Originally Posted by
skylark-flier
I'm going to assume you're serious. Sailplanes are primarily designed for catching thermals and staying in the air - therefore, only rudder & elevator are necessary or wanted. Some have spoilers to assist in coming back down.
Ailerons are primarily for banking, sharp turning, maneuvers - something completely alien to a sailplane. There are GLIDERS with ailerons, but they're primarily slope gliders. They have much higher performance parameters, some are even scale models of WW2 warbirds.
Thanks Skylark,
My first and so far only sail plane is a Great Planes Spectra. It seems a bit hard to control. Once it gets passed a certain point in a turn the wing wants to drop sharply and the airplane tends to dive. This is not what I expected from a sailplane. I have done many dead stick landings over the years and a properly coordinated rudder aileron turn resulted in less loss of altitude. My vintage rudder only planes did not have this problem. Is it possible that this plane is simply out of trim?
What type of work did you do In the air force? I was in radar and spent a year in Vietnam..
Jerry