"> Nice to see all those Slingsby T.21s flying (the side-by-side two

seaters).

My club still has one,"

The very glider in which I had most of my pre-solo training and in which I had my first solo flight, in 1974. When I flew in a T21 recently I found it a rather different experience from flying a modern high performance glider.



On Tuesday, 5 April 2022 at 12:37:41 UTC+1, Martin Gregorie wrote:

On Tue, 5 Apr 2022 03:57:08 -0700 (PDT), stephen.s...@gmail.com wrote:

On Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 5:59:52 AM UTC-4, JAB wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzM1rDmWFgI

I think that is from 1947. Here’s another one from 1952

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=117P3ZeLdRk

Nice to see all those Slingsby T.21s flying (the side-by-side two
seaters).

My club still has one, which I flew a few times while pre-solo and is
still in use, though though it hasn't been flown since COVID appeared.
It's normally the first glider flown on the longest day of the year,
mainly because there's no canopy to mist up in the post-dawn dew.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 9 Apr 2022 14:34:40 -0700 (PDT), waremark wrote:

"> Nice to see all those Slingsby T.21s flying (the side-by-side two

seaters).

My club still has one,"

The very glider in which I had most of my pre-solo training and in which
I had my first solo flight, in 1974. When I flew in a T21 recently I
found it a rather different experience from flying a modern high
performance glider.

I remember reading stories of postwar adventures by RAF chaps flying T.21s
in Egypt and the rate of climb you could get when playing with dust devils there. I thought that was a Philip Wills story, but a quick index scan of
the three of his books which I have ("On Being a Bird", "Free As A Bird"
and "Where No Birds Fly") didn't show anything relevant.

A quick scan for photos shows it is on 'On Being a Bird' - it contains a
nice shot of a T.21 landing on front of one of the larger pyramids.

Left Pondians may also enjoy these - they'd be pretty much at home on the
same shelf as the Schweizer book and 'I Learnt To Fly For Hitler' - all
three authors were flying gliders at about the same time.

Here, they all live on the same shelf as 'Once Upon A Thermal' and
'Winning On The Wind'.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Ah, the T-21... I towed one behind an L-19 Bird Dog in Texas back in
the 80s. As I recall, the pilot's briefing included keeping the glider
above the club's airstrip and not exceeding 35 KIAS. It was an upward
spiral in a continuous stall buffet.

That glider now resides in the Southwest Soaring Museum in Moriarty, New Mexico.

Dan
5J

On 4/9/22 16:34, Martin Gregorie wrote:

On Sat, 9 Apr 2022 14:34:40 -0700 (PDT), waremark wrote:

"> Nice to see all those Slingsby T.21s flying (the side-by-side two

seaters).

My club still has one,"

The very glider in which I had most of my pre-solo training and in which
I had my first solo flight, in 1974. When I flew in a T21 recently I
found it a rather different experience from flying a modern high
performance glider.

I remember reading stories of postwar adventures by RAF chaps flying T.21s
in Egypt and the rate of climb you could get when playing with dust devils there. I thought that was a Philip Wills story, but a quick index scan of
the three of his books which I have ("On Being a Bird", "Free As A Bird"
and "Where No Birds Fly") didn't show anything relevant.

A quick scan for photos shows it is on 'On Being a Bird' - it contains a
nice shot of a T.21 landing on front of one of the larger pyramids.

Left Pondians may also enjoy these - they'd be pretty much at home on the same shelf as the Schweizer book and 'I Learnt To Fly For Hitler' - all
three authors were flying gliders at about the same time.

Here, they all live on the same shelf as 'Once Upon A Thermal' and
'Winning On The Wind'.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sun, 10 Apr 2022 11:41:11 -0600, Dan Marotta wrote:

Ah, the T-21... I towed one behind an L-19 Bird Dog in Texas back in
the 80s. As I recall, the pilot's briefing included keeping the glider
above the club's airstrip and not exceeding 35 KIAS. It was an upward spiral in a continuous stall buffet.

The only time I can remember ours being aerotowed was after a 60km
downwind 'dash' to Husbands Bosworth. As you say, it has a rather low
Vmaxtow: it would have probably come back by road except that there was a
PZL Wilga based as Hus Bos, which was happy at the T.21 tow speed. Even so
the T.21 pilots looked *very* windswept on landing.

BTW, a T.21 can 'fly a circuit' off the winch without turning on a
moderately windy day. Release from the cable, slow down and drift backward
down the airfield to the threshhold, stick nose down, speed up and land.
I've not seen this done, but other club members have told me about it.

The most worrying thing I've done in a T.21 is to share a thermal with a
second glider: since the pilots are sitting under the wing LE, its not
possible to see the other glider if its where it should be, on the other
side of the thermal, unless its well below you.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

All of my initial training was in the T-21 off the winch at RAF Bicester back in the 70's. In the USAF at Upper Heyford. It was dirt cheap even for a 2nd LT. 3 winch tows and circuits for maybe 10 P. First solo and first actual soaring, gained a
total of 500' in the T-21. RAF Bicester had modified them so that there was an enclosed canopy. Made it slightly less cold.

BV

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)