Mooney pilots who glide

[RobertGary1]

Curious how many other Mooney glider pilots we have. I could see a correlation with interest in efficient machines and a dislike of big fuel bills. 

[gsxrpilot]

Do these gliders count. This is 10,000 ft and climbing.

[squeaky.stow]

8 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Do these gliders count. This is 10,000 ft and climbing.

Is that you?

You just won the cool contest!
I mean you’re a 252 owner, so already cool. Soon to be an Encore, even cooler!

But hang gliding a 10000 feet? You win. I resign.

[ohdub]

I did back in the mid 90s. I have a little over 100 hours, mostly thermals but a bit of ridge and wave time.

[Schinderhannes]

I have about 1,500 hours in gliders and used to fly a lot of competitions. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to do a lot of glider flighting in the last 20 years and I really miss it. Currently I am seriously considering trading the Mooney for a RF10, Taifun 17E, or Grob 109B. Anybody interested? The picture was one of my most memorable flights during a 2017 vacatio n in Chile. The mountain in the background is Aconcagua, with 22,837ft the highest mountain in the Americas.  

[carusoam]

Inviting @201er to discuss gliding...

Erik and JL have informal distance records for gliding in M20Ks....   

I think we have an MSer from Minden Nevada with a glider for his avatar... 

MS has several glider pilots including really long distance gliding...

If I got any of this right... I win a memory award...

Best regards,

-a-

[Ibra]

 

2 hours ago, squeaky.stow said:

But hang gliding a 10000 feet? You win. I resign

Unlike 252, there is no way @gsxrpilot can fit an oxygen bottle in that "flying bag" and hit FL250 

I fly an Astir when it’s too bumpy to fly the family, mostly local flying or expeditions to mountains in mainland Europe but not much banging on XC competitions these days, it's hard to imagine that someone flew the same toy up to 50000ft, so it still a long way before I get bored with it !

The most efficient form of flying, but unlike Mooney flying, gliding is the best way to waste a whole weekned, get it wrong on a 2h XC day and you will need to add 8h of driving & de/rigging before getting back home 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Ibra

[chriscalandro]

if skydiving counts as gliding with poor glide ratio you can count me in.

 

I have 4 hours in a real glider as well.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Do these gliders count. This is 10,000 ft and climbing.

How do you land? It appears that you don’t have an AoA device.

Clarence

[adverseyaw]

3 hours ago, RobertGary1 said:

Curious how many other Mooney glider pilots we have. I could see a correlation with interest in efficient machines and a dislike of big fuel bills. 

All my money goes to avgas and aerotows. Thankfully down here in the southwest the lapse rate gets to be so crazy that hanging on to thermals is child's play. Regularly max out the vario at over 10 knots of lift in the afternoons!

[Culver LFA]

Yes, glider and tow pilot

[201er]

In glider circles I’m known as “Daniel’s Brother” if that means anything to you.

Otherwise I’m just commercial glider with around 200 hours.

[201Steve]

@201er please explain the commercial aspect of a glider. Is it just instruction? Or “glider rides” for hire?

[gsxrpilot]

2 hours ago, M20Doc said:

How do you land? It appears that you don’t have an AoA device.

Clarence

And no ASI either!

 

[RobertGary1]

41 minutes ago, 201Steve said:

@201er please explain the commercial aspect of a glider. Is it just instruction? Or “glider rides” for hire?

Not much. I did mine at the commercial level because it’s the same checkride just need a few more solo flights. Need cfi-g to instruct. 

[201er]

1 hour ago, 201Steve said:

@201er please explain the commercial aspect of a glider. Is it just instruction? Or “glider rides” for hire?

Rides for hire. I had the pleasure of giving first flights to many passengers in SGS 2-33 and 2-32.

[Ragsf15e]

I’m actually a legit CFI-G... but I haven’t flown a glider in 25 years.  I miss it.  Have a 5.0 hour flight in wave too (ASK-21). Ran out of O2 at 3 hours, dropped down and had just enough thermals to hang around 2 more hours.

Mostly in 2-33s and some 1-26 time.  The 1-26s are awesome spinners!

[201er]

Fun fact, glider Mooney pilots can do their flight review in a glider and it counts for airplane too.

I did aerobatic training in a MDM Fox glider and it counted as a flight review for all my ratings.

Edited March 9, 2021 by 201er

[RobertGary1]

13 minutes ago, 201er said:

Fun fact, glider Mooney pilots can do their flight review in a glider and it counts for airplane too.

I did aerobatic training in a MDM Fox glider and it counted as a flight review for all my ratings.

And my citation rating counted for the BFR jn gliders.

[carusoam]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDM_MDM-1_Fox
 

-a-

[Comet]

I got my glider license just before the pandemic shut everything down.  Kept me from doing any soaring last season, but I hope to take it up again when the lapse rates look  better.  I found that glider flying is some of the most satisfying time you can have in an aircraft.

[RobertGary1]

30 minutes ago, carusoam said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDM_MDM-1_Fox
 

-a-

Didn’t realize they were rare. We have one at the glider port. Rents out a few times a week. 

[carusoam]

The wiki is a bit short on data... could use an update.

There were 26 built prior to the Great Recession ... then production resumed years later...  

-a-

[gsxrpilot]

I believe Laura, co-owner of SWTA... who has looked over logs for many of you... is a glider pilot. I know she flew a Pipistrel motor glider to Oshkosh a few years back.

[RLCarter]

4 hours ago, M20Doc said:

How do you land? It appears that you don’t have an AoA device.

Clarence

dont know much about AoA's but i'm betting if you dont get the gear down your johnson-bar will be badly damaged