The sad impulse to write this article is two accidents within one week on my \u0093home drome\u0094, Oerlinghausen.\u00a0 A student declared from a good height that he was ending his flight.\u00a0 He landed very hard and suffered a back injury.\u00a0 The glider was heavily damaged. \nAn older pilot with 40 years (!) of flying experience returned fairly close to the field but flying very slowly.\u00a0 He stalled at about 100 feet and dove into trees.\u00a0 He died two days later in hospital. \nIt is discouraging and sometimes I ask myself seriously what I’m doing building gliders.\u00a0 Nevertheless, these accidents have brought me to thinking about a very simple question: \nEvery simple Cessna and the like have a stall warning system.\u00a0 We have none.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 More exactly, why do many pilots think a stall warning device is \u0093unfashionable\u0094 and don’t want one? \nEveryone knows that among all of the causes of accidents, \u0093stalling near the ground\u0094 is the most common and often ends in death.\u00a0 A complete avoidance of such accidents is, of course, impossible.\u00a0 But the question must be asked, in any case, whether an obligatory stall warning system would drastically reduce their number. \nThis kind of accident occurs under many different conditions: \nLanding, winch launching, aerotowing, in mountains without a good view of a horizon, and after entering bad weather. \nThis question is not new and I have often discussed it with pilots.\u00a0 I’ve heard many arguments and have learned a lot.\u00a0 In addition, I asked the question on “rec.aviation.soaring” and received a wide range of responses. \nIn all questions of safety in gliding, a manufacturer must think carefully about the answers.\u00a0 If we were to put stall warning indicators on all of our gliders as standard equipment, pilots would say, \u0093The wings from DG are trash.\u00a0 That\u00a0 is seen by the fact that they must put stall warning indicators on all of their ships.\u00a0 Other designs don’t need them.\u0094\u00a0 I’ve heard this point of view many times and it brings me to the dark suspicion that this is the reason why manufacturers have not to this day put in stall warning indicators as standard equipment. \nLet’s start at the beginning with the aerodynamic root of the problem in flight physics. \nAn aircraft flying fast has a lower efficiency than a slower flying aircraft.\u00a0 If you want to glide as far as possible from a given height, use the best glide speed which is about 57 knots for a modern glider.\u00a0 If you want to minimize sink then fly at the minimum sink speed of about 44 to 49 knots depending on wing loading.\u00a0 If you reduce the speed even more, by flying at a still higher angle of attack, the flow across the wings will suddenly break up.\u00a0 The drag increases markedly and the thrust due to weight diminishes.\u00a0 One or both wings stall.\u00a0 If only one wing stalls, then the aircraft enters a spin. \nA stall warning indicator should give warning at a speed of about 5 to 10% over the stall speed,\u00a0 in order to give the pilot time to push forward on the stick and increase speed before the aircraft becomes uncontrollable.\u00a0 Such a warning should drastically reduce accidents caused by flying too slowly, in normal landings especially outlandings, and also in mountain flying.<\/p>\n
What is the situation in gliders?<\/h3>\n
Why don’t they have stall warning devices?<\/p>\n
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One reason is that we don’t want a flap valve on the wing as in airplanes because it disturbs the airflow too much.\u00a0 However, a sailplane manufacturer can drill holes in the nose to take pressure measurements and get a stall warning system of sufficient precision.<\/li>\n
In contrast to airplanes, we often fly very near stall speed in small thermals.\u00a0 In that case the stall warning would be bleating at us constantly.\u00a0 Do we want that?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This argument is the most common one against a stall warning device.<\/p>\n
But it is wrong!<\/h3>\n
I was flying with a DSI several years. It does not beep so often. \nIt only beeps when you fly extremely slow or – even more – if you suddenly fly a steep curve. \nWell, do we want such a warning in these situations? \nWe should! \nWhen we fly very near stall speed in thermals, we are flying at a high sink rate.\u00a0 It doesn’t make any sense to fly that slowly if our intention is to achieve maximum climb rate in the thermal.\u00a0 The danger of stalling is too great and if another glider is under us, it could lead to an accident.\u00a0 The main thing is that we achieve nothing by flying on the edge of stall. \nModern airfoils with smooth transitions between the wing and fuselage loose performance drastically when nearing stall speed.\u00a0 Older gliders had a softer transition.\u00a0 It’s actually a good thing when the stall warning sounds during thermalling. \nWe are, in fact, flying too slowly and the warning shouldn’t get on our nerves, rather it should tell us to fly faster or at a shallower bank angle.<\/p>\n
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The manufacturers have for decades tried to prevent the construction regulations from being too confining.\u00a0 And the customers (the market) have not as yet demanded a stall warning indicator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why not? \nI don’t know. \nYou are the customers! \nIn the automobile industry there is considerable pressure from the customers for development of crush proof passenger compartments, air bags, and other safety systems.\u00a0 In contrast, for sailplanes there is almost no such market pressure.\u00a0 Why? \nAt present, only by order of an administrative authority, could the use of stall warning systems be imposed universally because if only one manufacturer offered it………\u00a0\u00a0 See above!<\/p>\n
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A stall warning system is probably a money saving device. \nHow many landing gear systems have we had to repair in our club?!\u00a0 With that money we could easily have equipped twice as many gliders with a DSI.\u00a0 I have done considerable damage to the gear in my DG-400 without any good reason, only stupidity.\u00a0 This would have definitely not happened if I had had a stall warning indicator.\u00a0 For the 8,000 Euro I spent on repairs, I could have equipped the whole club fleet with DSI\u0092s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Further arguments:<\/h3>\n
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“We don’t want any more warning buzzers in the cockpit.\u00a0 The pilot gets confused afterwards as to which \u0093beep\u0094 means what and forgets to put down the gear.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Well, yes, if one puts the gear down right away, then it doesn’t beep in the first place.\u00a0 And when the stall warning sounds then one should recognize it within the context of the flying situation.\u00a0 In addition, the DSI displays the reason for the alarm. \nTo be sure, one thing has already happened:\u00a0 a customer programmed his hand-held GPS with his home glider port.\u00a0 In the pattern it beeped with the message, \u0093Arrival at Turnpoint.\u0094\u00a0 The customer thought that the gear was still up and pulled the lever back – Ow! \nWe are of the opinion that a \u0093legitimate warning\u0094 should also sound off.\u00a0 And a warning due to under speeding is truly legitimate as you can read from the first sentence of this article.\u00a0 The same is true of a gear warning.<\/p>\n
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\u0093He, who is not in a position to control his speed, should not get into a glider!\u0094<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I hardly dare say it but this is a quote from a high official of the German Aeroclub in the instructor’s school.\u00a0 What can you say to such nonsense when even a pilot with 40 years experience crashes?\u00a0 Has he never been in a cockpit?\u00a0 Personally, I have had the exact same experience that I never should have.\u00a0 Never! \nCan’t you imagine the following scenario happening to you? \nYou’re flying along a ridge in the mountains.\u00a0\u00a0 In spite of the turbulence, the ridge is working well and you’re keeping in close and flying slowly in order to stay in the lift as long as possible.\u00a0 As you pass a gully, you don’t notice anything in particular – because you don’t have a stall warning indicator – but a gust from behind hits you and the ASI takes a dive.\u00a0 At the same time you attempt to turn away from the ridge.\u00a0 It stalls and you plunge toward the ridge…….. \nI have, myself, already experienced the first part of this scenario.\u00a0 Before I could experience the second part, a loud \u0093beep\u0094 caused me to automatically shove the stick forward.<\/p>\n
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I have already written above about the possible conclusion that our airfoils are worthless if we build in a stall warning horn.\u00a0 That is complete nonsense, but what can one do to counter such propaganda?\u00a0 I’ve just come from the glider port where I tried repeatedly with different maneuvers to stall my DG-800 \u0093by mistake\u0094. I could not succeed!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It might have been possible with an extreme aft C.G.\u00a0 That is not possible through the luck (or sorrow) of my weight.\u00a0 (205 lbs.)\u00a0 But we all know that some gliders are much less tolerant to slow flight.<\/p>\n
I would like to restate the theme in a broader sense and simply enumerate the ways in which I would imagine myself as a glider customer.\u00a0 (And that is, of course, the way we as manufacturers build gliders.)\u00a0\u00a0 It makes no difference that the three most important things which increase flight safety are:<\/p>\n
\u00a01. Training \n2. Training \n3. and above all, training!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Even so, there are too many accidents in our sport and we, at DG, are convinced that this fact itself imperils the future of our sport.\u00a0 Every accident and especially every fatality discourages another possible joiner from trying our wonderful sport. \nOkay.\u00a0 How should our gliders be equipped?<\/p>\n
A glider must work like a \u0093mistake-tolerant system\u0094.<\/h3>\n
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It must warn me right from the beginning against dumb mistakes which could be avoided if the glider had:\n
Stall warning<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
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Spoiler warning or Piggott Hook<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
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Speed warning<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
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Remote control of the glide calculator<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
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Good visibility from the cockpit.<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
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To correct or diminish dangerous situations, the glider should have:\n
A nose hook for aerotowing<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n
If we always built such well equipped gliders, \nthe accident rate would go down. \nBut only you, the customer, can make it happen!<\/p>\n
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Maybe it’s only a question of time until there is a change of mind and a warning system is no longer seen as \u0093unfashionable\u0094, rather a necessity.\u00a0 And maybe this article will help to start a change of opinion. \nWhy is it always necessary to have a few pilots die until a new round of discussion begins? \nIt is clear that I, personally, make no friends among my colleagues when I suggest we do what they have for years avoided doing.\u00a0 Even in my own factory I have to convince some people. \nMaybe I’m being one-sided about this by putting my own personal opinion above everybody else. \nThat’s possible. \nSimply tell me! \nI am \u0093mistake-tolerant\u0094 – even in enduring criticism.<\/p>\n
– friedel weber – <\/p>\n
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The following story is too good not to tell but will be told under cover of anonymity.<\/h4>\n
A competition pilot, whose name is well known, had to wait a long time for a tow in his DG-800. \n1. He didn’t make a second ground check and so missed the fact that his DSI had gone into \u0093sleep-mode\u0094 in the meantime.\u00a0 Thermals didn’t work so he found himself in the pattern pretty soon.<\/p>\n
2. He had fooled around long enough that he wound up well into the pattern.\u00a0 In front and above him was another pilot who wanted to land first.\u00a0 This other pilot flew a big pattern so that our pilot had some concern as to whether he was high enough to stay in line. \n3. As a result, he cut his base leg short and flew a diagonal to final ahead of the other pilot. \n4. As can be expected, he made the only-to-human mistake of forgetting to lower his gear.<\/p>\n
The story is only for laughs because the scratches on the pilots self-esteem were deeper than those on his gear doors.\u00a0 Of course, before take-off, he proclaimed that such a mistake would never happen to him……<\/p>\n
That is the reason we need\u00a0 \u0093mistake-tolerant gliders\u0094. \nSometimes such situations don’t go as we have planned but afterward we can just smile about them!<\/p>\n
\u00a0This article was written but not published, when my best friend died in a winch launch accident. He \u0093flew behind the cable,\u0094 gained only 100 m, and then released.\u00a0 He apparently intended to fly a shortened pattern and land.\u00a0 Flying much too slowly in the turn back after release, he stalled and crashed straight in on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Jens was no daredevil; he was a highly knowledgeable pilot\u00a0 who was well known for his fussy cockpit checks.\u00a0 He was the only one I allowed to fly my glider from time to time and had suggested many technical improvements.\u00a0 He took care of all the technical devices in the club with exacting attention to detail.\u00a0 Anywhere there was a problem, the cry soon went out, \u0093Jens, can you look at this for a moment?\u0094<\/span> \n He was such a nice guy!<\/span> \n And now this!<\/span><\/p>\n
It is just terrible!<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Born 1947\u00a0\u00a0 Died May 7, 2000<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Maybe I’m getting on the nerves of some of you with my intensive \u0093preaching\u0094 about safety issues.\u00a0 I only need to read the newsgroups to see opinions such as: \n“The nose hook ruling for aerotow is \u0093idiotic.\u0094\u00a0\u00a0 A stall warning, a gear warning, and a spoiler warning systems are unnecessary.\u00a0 A spring check ride with an instructor is an imputation.”\u00a0 And I have heard many other \u0093unreasonable demands.\u0094\u00a0 But I have three or more \u0093hairy\u0094 experience behind me, especially during the beginning of my flying.<\/p>\n
If\u00a0 I’m irritating your conscience, you can just quit reading here.\u00a0 Jens knew all these articles and it didn’t help him!\u00a0 But what is the use?\u00a0 It’s got me!<\/p>\n
My invitation above to more discussion seems\u00a0 meaningless now.\u00a0 In light of this accident, nobody can say that my argument for a \u0093mistake-tolerant glider\u0094 in general, and a stall warning system in particular, is nonsense.<\/p>\n
But don’t trouble yourself. \nJust keep writing exactly what you think.<\/p>\n
– friedel weber – \u00a0translated by David Noyes, Ohio<\/p>\n