GLIDING EXTRA

Editorial: what does the future hold?
The old flying season is over, and the new season is fast approaching. Time to take stock, take up a position and dare to look to the future. In this month’s aerokurier Gliding SPECIAL we have devoted 64 pages to just that.
In so doing, we had another benefit in mind for the clubs. The Gliding SPECIAL can be handed out to interested visitors on flying days and open door days. It will enable them to navigate their way around gliding today. It is easy to order: just write to redaktion@aerokurier.de.

Glider tows: duel on the rope
The fastest way to get up to the thermals is by aerotow. But what is the most efficient tow-plane? Motor gliders and ultralight aircraft have become well established as alternatives to powered aircraft. We have looked around the market for tow-planes and explain the differences between the various aircraft classes – from their towing characteristics through to the maintenance costs.

Suction profiles promise quantum leap
Are super-gliders that are a quantum leap better than everything we have known up to now on their way in? An aerodynamic trick, boundary layer suction, promises a step increase in performance: a glide ratio of 100 for Open Class aircraft.

Micro Eta: after the giant, now comes the dwarf
Flying almost without effort, as an easily achievable pleasure – is that possible? The developer of the eta superglider, Dr. Reiner Kickert, has thought about this and proposes a micro eta.

Market survey of 15m and 18m aircraft
Never before have there been so many different 15m class gliders on the market. It is not just that the class has grown, but the aircraft themselves have grown, and often nowadays there is the option of an 18m wingspan. This market survey of 15m and 18m gliders will give you a broad overview.

Performance barometer world records, class records
How far and how fast can a glider fly? Where do the frontiers of what is possible lie? World records provide a momentary answer: they entail sounding out the limits of what is feasible. German Class records show what is possible under central European weather conditions. A survey of performance levels.

Streifeneder rescue system certificated
On 17 December 2004, the German Civil Aviation Authority (LBA) approved the Streifeneder rescue system for installation in gliders. For Hansjörg Streifeneder, this announcement is the reward for ten years of hard work, which at times looked as if it would never end. We examine the past and future of a significant boost to air safety.

Gliding: Sport with no public
Gliding is a challenge. It is a matter of utilising the forces placed at our disposal by Nature. Who is best attuned? Who employs the most skill at converting these forces into gliding motion? The answers are provided by the gold medals from the German, European and World Championships. But none of it is in the public eye. This has to change. GPS-based tracking systems are making this possible.

Segelflugszene: the source of many great ideas
Reiner Rose’s dream was to promote gliding. The basis for this was his creation, "Segelflugszene". Since it was founded, far-reaching changes have taken place in the popular sport. We survey Segelflugszene’s campaigns.

Glider aerobatics: a pastime that requires skill and luck
Aerobatic pilots turn the world upside down in the sky. What other pilots commonly view as abnormal is the normal state of affairs for them.

New: Glasflügel 304 S
A completely new 15m/18m aircraft is under development at HPH in Kutna Hora: the Glasflügel 304 S. The prototype is to be unveiled for the first time in April at AERO.

ASK 21Mi: independent schools with self-launching gliders
The ASK 21 two-seater trainer is now flying as a self-launching glider with auxiliary power unit. The manufacturer, Schleicher, is planning to test the everyday practicality of this concept shortly with an experimental aircraft.

New wing for the Polish SZD-56 racing plane
Work is under way in Poland on an enhanced version of the SZD-56 Diana Racing Class aircraft, only a few of which were manufactured by PZL Bielsko before it went bankrupt in 2001. Diana designer Bogumil Berés has built a new, larger wing for this extremely aesthetically pleasing aircraft.

Autotow: an almost forgotten way of launching a glider
Autotow? How does that work then? Glider pilots from Berlin and Brandenburg wanted to know and have revived the autotow. But it is not just any old aircraft that they are launching from their cross-country vehicle, but oldtimers.

Wave soaring in Poland
It was in the Sudeten Mountains, in Grunau, known today as the Jezow Sudecki, that wave lift was discovered for gliding. The experience can be repeated. The Haus der Luftsportjugend Laucha is also offering accompanied gliding  for pilots with their own aircraft at its main site of Jelenia Góra (formerly Hirschberg).

Gäddislooh – somewhere in Germany
Does this reminds you of something nice? The trivia are forgotten, the important things are so much clearer. A lot can appear in a different light. Looking back on a competition suddenly turns into quite a different story.

1:500,000 gliding aeronautical charts from Jeppesen
Jeppesen is extending its range of aeronautical charts to include a new series specifically for gliders. At a scale of 1:500,000, these charts are tailored to the specific requirements of gliding with details in metres of airspace boundaries and gliding sectors clearly marked. The new maps should be available from April 2005, i.e. just in time for the start of the season. They extend across Germany and Austria.

The path to the licence: learning gliding
Do you fancy trying your hand at gliding? Nothing could be easier! In no other country is the density of aerodromes with gliding operations heavier than in Germany. Training is provided virtually everywhere as well. An introduction for newcomers.

Oldtimer gliders
The fascination with gliding does not begin just at glide ratio of 40. More and more enthusiasts are enjoying silent flying on oldtimers. We accompanied them on their search for the original flying experience.