007 – Flight in a Motorglider (English Only!)
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This episode is the English version of Episode 1, the flight in the motorglider.
Deutsch-Sprechende: Diese Episode nicht runterladen, es ist dasselbe wie in Episode 1, nur auf English!
The episode is a flight in a self-launching sailplane. I mainly describe take-off and landing. The episode is a mix between narration and live recordings from the cockpit.
Please ignore this:
My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-19d037b535124bd167f88aadfdb9d0a3}
You mean “magnetos” rather than magnets. The purpose of the them (most plane engines have 2 per cylinder for redundancy) is to spin with the engine and mechanically generate energy to fire the spark plugs. The idea then is that if the battery dies or the alternator goes, the rotation of the engine will generate electricity to fire the plugs which fire the fuel in the cylinder and spin the engine.
I fly fixed winged piston planes, but I’ve never tried a glider before. Different!
yes, I meant magnetos :-)
Thanks, Markus
I liked this podcast. The fine commentary put me right in the flying seat. Excellent musical interludes added nicely to the listening experience. As usual, a bit of basic scientific dialog particularly during the approach to landing. Also a bit of common sense explained regarding flight patterns.
I was reminded of the paragliding incident in 2007 where a person was sucked up to 32,000 ft. Here’s a link to the story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6369923.stm . It happened to have occurred in my home town of Manilla, Australia. Comparing a motor-glider (with its power and instrumentation) and hang-glider is like comparing a car and a bicycle.
I was also reminded of a fantastic video that I saw a few days ago of a base jumper wearing a wingsuit. Here’s a link to that: http://sciencefriday.com/video/10/26/2012/plunge-into-the-science-of-base-jumping.html . Comparing a motor-glider and wingsuit is like comparing a car to running shoes.
Actually, a buddy of mine does wingsuit-flying. I guess it would be interesting to do a podcast with him at some point :-)
Markus