Rush
Giga Poster
Photos are not professional, pretty poor quality and about the content, not the overall effect.
Right, first some background stuff, I am part of a youth organisation known as The Air Training Corp, (or most commonly known as the Air Cadets.) basically, it is a voluntary organisation which is like a taster of the RAF. So we often do lots of activities and stuff such as camps, climbing, community work as well as flying and gliding.
On Saturday, (20.6) I was picked to go Gliding. Usually, we have to get up at some god-early time to arrive at the airfield and we get about 20 - 30 minutes in the air before heading back again. Saturday, was what the staff called "Longest Day Gliding" which they tried to get as many cadets gliding as possible. We were alloted a 2 - 3pm slot and so we arrived at Dalton Barracks, near Oxford for 1:30pm.
On arrival, we have to watch a safety video which shows us how to put on the parachute, what will happen and what to do in an emergency. After this, we're taken in a jeep across the main runway to where a large caravan is parked. This caravan is a temporary radio control station and usually it is where we spend most of the day. However, as there were more cadets there than usual we ended up sitting outside.
Here is the aircraft that I will be flying:
You may be asking, "why does the glider have a propeller?" There are two types of glider which we fly at Cadets. This one is a "Vigilant" which is a powered glider, you can easily use them to take off and switch off the engine to get the gliding experience as well. The other type is a "Viking" and it doesn't have an engine. Instead it uses a winch cable to take off. I haven't been in one of these yet as the nearest place they fly them from is Croydon.
A vigilant taking off.
A very poor shot but this was the best one I could get of one landing.
As I mentioned earlier, we were supposed to be going up between 2 to 3, but poor weather in the morning and other cadets turning up at the wrong slots
roll meant that we were delayed by 5 1/2 hours! This was spent in the caravan and through various trips to and back from the briefing room for toilet breaks. What was more annoying was that I hadn't eaten since 11 and had run out of snacks to feed me. Not good.
Me strutting about in my irresistable flying coveralls.
Eventually at around 10 to 7 I was called up and put into one of the aircraft. We always glide with an instructor who sits in the right seat obviously as we don't have that much experience. So whilst my instructor carried out the routine safety checks, I took a random photo of across the wing...
..and of my speckled mug.
Our aircraft then taxied to the end of the runway and soon we were rolling along it.
The actual take-off isn't as exhilirating or as forceful as that of a commercial jet, however being able to see a lot better is a bonus. Here the glider is just lifting off.
Going up, over the biking course.
Then we turned round and I got a shot of the airfield going over.
At this point, the instructor turned the engine off and let me fly. I re-capped a lot of the basic stuff such as rolling, (turning the glider to the left and the right) pitching, (making the glider ascend and descend) and yawing. (Tilting the plane to the left and right through the use of the rudder pedals.) You can get some good positive G's by tilting the stick back and pitching upwards. Negative G's are also possible but you're usually strapped in too securely to feel any airtime.
My instructor then taught me some more advanced stuff which I'll probably forget on my next flight. At this point we were told we couldn't land as a cadet was flying solo. (More on that later.) This meant I got an extra 20 minutes which was a huge bonus. The instructor took control and flew over Oxford so that I could get some shots.
Not amazing quality due to having a shoddy camera and being 4000ft up but you can make out some of the university buildings.
Oh, and one of myself because you can't get enough of me. :lol:
I also took a picture of some of the cockpit indicators.
The top left one (Air Speed Indicator) shows the speed in knotts, 55 for us. The one to the right is the "Artificial Horizon" and shows whether you're flying straight and level. The two yellow lines when flying straight and level should match up with the white line. If they are slanted then it means that the aircraft is flying towards the left or the right. If the yellow lines are below the white line it indicates you're descending, and if they are above it means you are ascending.
To the right of that (Altimeter) tells you the height you're flying at. The big hand indicates 100ft and the little hand is 1000ft. So it's showing that we're flying at 4000ft. To its right is the G Metre, as you can see we're not pulling much at the moment. The bottom left indicator (Slip Indicator) with the ball shows whether you are yawing to the left or right. If the ball is in the middle then the aircraft is perfectly straight.
As for the other 3 indicators, they are the "RPM Gauge" and "Vertical Speed Indicator" which I can't remember what they do. The bottom right is the clock, which is clearly wrong.
Didcot Power Station is in the distance.
We then looked at the guy doing his solo from above and watched him do a circuit and land.
Once given the all clear, it was unfortunately time for us to land. The instructor took control and as we were doing so the wind randomly changed causing the aircraft to drop suddenly which gave an awesome pop of air. We flew over the main army barracks.
These air brakes then popped up, which altered the airflow over the wing and caused the glider to descend (at quite a steep rate) I must add.
About to touch down on the runway.
Afterwards I got out and waited for the rest of my group to land in their gliders. Whilst doing so, this weird plane in garish colours which only Taylor would like went past.
The Red Arrows also flew nearby, presumably practising for the Air Tatoo in a few weeks.
I got a final shot of the aircraft.
Then we headed back, a lot later than expecting however the 5 1/2 hour wait was totally worth the extra time in the air and it wasn't like we were with moaning, chavvy, queue jumpers who smoked. :wink:
So that ends my gliding session, I have applied for a "Gliding Scholarship" which means I come down to Dalton Barracks every Saturday or Sunday and I am taught to fly the Vigilant by myself. So I learn everything in more detail and at the end I perform a solo flight (which is what that guy was doing that we had to wait for) and get some sort of liscence at the end of it.
So, that's the end of my report.
Hope you enjoyed reading it. :--D
Right, first some background stuff, I am part of a youth organisation known as The Air Training Corp, (or most commonly known as the Air Cadets.) basically, it is a voluntary organisation which is like a taster of the RAF. So we often do lots of activities and stuff such as camps, climbing, community work as well as flying and gliding.
On Saturday, (20.6) I was picked to go Gliding. Usually, we have to get up at some god-early time to arrive at the airfield and we get about 20 - 30 minutes in the air before heading back again. Saturday, was what the staff called "Longest Day Gliding" which they tried to get as many cadets gliding as possible. We were alloted a 2 - 3pm slot and so we arrived at Dalton Barracks, near Oxford for 1:30pm.
On arrival, we have to watch a safety video which shows us how to put on the parachute, what will happen and what to do in an emergency. After this, we're taken in a jeep across the main runway to where a large caravan is parked. This caravan is a temporary radio control station and usually it is where we spend most of the day. However, as there were more cadets there than usual we ended up sitting outside.
Here is the aircraft that I will be flying:
You may be asking, "why does the glider have a propeller?" There are two types of glider which we fly at Cadets. This one is a "Vigilant" which is a powered glider, you can easily use them to take off and switch off the engine to get the gliding experience as well. The other type is a "Viking" and it doesn't have an engine. Instead it uses a winch cable to take off. I haven't been in one of these yet as the nearest place they fly them from is Croydon.
A vigilant taking off.
A very poor shot but this was the best one I could get of one landing.
As I mentioned earlier, we were supposed to be going up between 2 to 3, but poor weather in the morning and other cadets turning up at the wrong slots
roll meant that we were delayed by 5 1/2 hours! This was spent in the caravan and through various trips to and back from the briefing room for toilet breaks. What was more annoying was that I hadn't eaten since 11 and had run out of snacks to feed me. Not good.Me strutting about in my irresistable flying coveralls.
Eventually at around 10 to 7 I was called up and put into one of the aircraft. We always glide with an instructor who sits in the right seat obviously as we don't have that much experience. So whilst my instructor carried out the routine safety checks, I took a random photo of across the wing...
..and of my speckled mug.
Our aircraft then taxied to the end of the runway and soon we were rolling along it.
The actual take-off isn't as exhilirating or as forceful as that of a commercial jet, however being able to see a lot better is a bonus. Here the glider is just lifting off.
Going up, over the biking course.
Then we turned round and I got a shot of the airfield going over.
At this point, the instructor turned the engine off and let me fly. I re-capped a lot of the basic stuff such as rolling, (turning the glider to the left and the right) pitching, (making the glider ascend and descend) and yawing. (Tilting the plane to the left and right through the use of the rudder pedals.) You can get some good positive G's by tilting the stick back and pitching upwards. Negative G's are also possible but you're usually strapped in too securely to feel any airtime.
My instructor then taught me some more advanced stuff which I'll probably forget on my next flight. At this point we were told we couldn't land as a cadet was flying solo. (More on that later.) This meant I got an extra 20 minutes which was a huge bonus. The instructor took control and flew over Oxford so that I could get some shots.
Not amazing quality due to having a shoddy camera and being 4000ft up
but you can make out some of the university buildings.
Oh, and one of myself because you can't get enough of me. :lol:
I also took a picture of some of the cockpit indicators.
The top left one (Air Speed Indicator) shows the speed in knotts, 55 for us. The one to the right is the "Artificial Horizon" and shows whether you're flying straight and level. The two yellow lines when flying straight and level should match up with the white line. If they are slanted then it means that the aircraft is flying towards the left or the right. If the yellow lines are below the white line it indicates you're descending, and if they are above it means you are ascending.
To the right of that (Altimeter) tells you the height you're flying at. The big hand indicates 100ft and the little hand is 1000ft. So it's showing that we're flying at 4000ft. To its right is the G Metre, as you can see we're not pulling much at the moment.
The bottom left indicator (Slip Indicator) with the ball shows whether you are yawing to the left or right. If the ball is in the middle then the aircraft is perfectly straight.As for the other 3 indicators, they are the "RPM Gauge" and "Vertical Speed Indicator" which I can't remember what they do. The bottom right is the clock, which is clearly wrong.
Didcot Power Station is in the distance.
We then looked at the guy doing his solo from above and watched him do a circuit and land.
Once given the all clear, it was unfortunately time for us to land. The instructor took control and as we were doing so the wind randomly changed causing the aircraft to drop suddenly which gave an awesome pop of air. We flew over the main army barracks.
These air brakes then popped up, which altered the airflow over the wing and caused the glider to descend (at quite a steep rate) I must add.
About to touch down on the runway.
Afterwards I got out and waited for the rest of my group to land in their gliders. Whilst doing so, this weird plane in garish colours which only Taylor would like went past.
The Red Arrows also flew nearby, presumably practising for the Air Tatoo in a few weeks.
I got a final shot of the aircraft.
Then we headed back, a lot later than expecting however the 5 1/2 hour wait was totally worth the extra time in the air and it wasn't like we were with moaning, chavvy, queue jumpers who smoked. :wink:
So that ends my gliding session, I have applied for a "Gliding Scholarship" which means I come down to Dalton Barracks every Saturday or Sunday and I am taught to fly the Vigilant by myself. So I learn everything in more detail and at the end I perform a solo flight (which is what that guy was doing that we had to wait for) and get some sort of liscence at the end of it.
So, that's the end of my report.
Hope you enjoyed reading it. :--D
