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Posted: Friday 25 March 2011

High-Flying Pupils Take to the Air

Robert Furness, Head of Technology, reports on an outing to the Scottish Gliding Centre for S6 pupils taking Advanced Higher Technological Studies.

GlidingAs usual, we had set aside a number of dates so that conditions would be right on the day. Things were not looking good on the March morning, however, as snow had fallen the night before and the weather was very wintry. Nonetheless our instructor, Ricky Jackson, father of former pupils Gavin (C2002) and Miranda (C2004), was confident there would be a suitable weather window between late morning and late afternoon.

He was correct: conditions were ideal, with a wind of around 15 knots from the southwest, very good visibility with a high cloud base, and no rain.

GlidingThe pupils had heard in school about the theory of flight, and the forces generated by the control surfaces. So after a safety briefing in the clubhouse we went out onto the airfield, and the first pupil was strapped into the front of a modern two-seater glider with the instructor behind, ready for the launch. The powerful winch, about ¾ mile away at the other end of the airfield, whisked them into the air, and at about 1200 feet the cable was released, and they were free to seek lift in the winds rising over Bishop Hill.

Each pupil had a flight of around 20 minutes, with a lot of time on the controls, apart from during the take-off and landing, and during some exciting aerobatic manoeuvres over Loch Leven. Ricky Jackson said that they all took quite naturally to flying the aircraft, with surprisingly good coordination of rudder, elevator and ailerons during turns. They certainly seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.

Jane Johnstone, one of the matrons at Beaton Road, accompanied the pupils on the outing. "It was absolutely magnficent," she said, "a very exhilarating experience!" 

 

Tags: S6, Technology

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