Hornet VH-GKJ - Serial Number 76 - Pilot Handling Guide and Conversion Document
7
Flight Characteristics
Controls:
All controls are light to the feel and are responsive
Takeoff and Aerotow:
Set trim forward or slightly back from full forward depending on pilot weight. Raise tail and balance
on main wheel when airspeed is gained ready for takeoff.
General:
At height, experiment with airbrakes and note the loss of height with different speeds
If this is your first aircraft with retractable undercarriage, ensure you know how to operate it and
how difficult or not it is for you.
Thermalling:
Recommended thermalling speed is 45 knots. The glider may have a tendency to drop a wing lower
than 45 knots.
Cruising:
The Hornet can be flown up to 75 knots before the sink rate becomes too excessive. The Hornet has
a 38:1 glide ratio with best LD at about 50 knots.
Stalling:
The glider stalls in the conventional manner. Recovery is progressive forward movement of the stick
until flying speed is returned.
Stall speed is 35-42 knots (varies with pilot weight). Stall speed (brakes open) is about 2 knots
LOWER.
Spinning:
The Hornet has typical spin characteristics and recovers easily with the standard spin recovery
technique.
Water Ballast:
Do not fill with water ballast.
Airbrakes
Trailing edge airbrakes have the benefit of being powerful and are also are speed limiting (the glider
will not pass VNE with brakes out) so once the pilot gets used to the slightly different feel, they will
find them useful and easy to use.
Circuit and Landing:
•
Use approach speed of
o
53 knots (no wind) minimum cockpit load;
o
63 knots (no wind) at maximum cockpit load
•
The aircraft is fitted with an undercarriage warning. If airbrakes are deployed with the
undercarriage up, it will sound.
•
The flight manual recommends full brake shortly before touchdown (but the approach can
be brake as required)
