Darling Downs Soaring Club Hornet VH-GMV User manual

Pilot Handling Guide
Hornet VH- GMV
These notes are a conversion guide only and not a substitute for the Manufacturer’s Flight Manual.
General notes on conversions .2
Basic overview .2
External features .2
Limitations .2
Cockpit features .3
Trim Ballast .4
Daily inspection notes .4
Glider accessories and Storage .5
Flight characteristics .6
Controls .6
Aerotow .6
Thermalling .6
Cruising .6
Stalling .6
Spinning .6
Water ballast .6
Circuit and landing .6
Pilot responsibilities .7
Supplementary notes (Trailing edge airbrakes) .7

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Hornet Pilot handling guide –June 09
General notes on conversions
1. Your conversion to a new type must be authorized by an instructor who has flown
the aircraft type.
2. He/she must outline the important features of the aircraft.
3. You should not do your first conversion in crosswind or gusty conditions.
4. Spend some time getting comfortable with the cockpit layout.
5. Get someone to lift the tail to show the takeoff and landing nose attitudes.
Basic Overview
The Hornet is a 15m unflapped sailplane constructed of fibreglass manufactured by Glasflügel. The
aircraft is a perfect first cross country glider with forgiving characteristics. The aircraft has
retractable undercarriage, trailing edge airbrakes and water ballast bags in the wings. The Hornet is
the first cross country glider in the club fleet. Minimum hours to fly the Hornet are 40 hours total
with 20 hours single seater experience.
External Features
Airbrakes
Trailing edge speed limiting type
Flaps
Not fitted
Wings
15m with winglets
Undercarrige
Retractable with alarm
Tailplane
T-tail
Limitations
Vne
Max permitted speed
135 knots
Va
Max manoeurvring speed
81 knots
Vra
Max rough air
81 knots
Vt
Max aerotow speed
73 knots
Vw
Max winch / autotow speed
81 knots
Max airbrake operation speed
135 knots
Max All Up Weight (MAUW) with water ballast
420 kg
Min cockpit weight, including parachute
74 kg
Max cockpit weight, including parachute
103 kg
Wing Ballast Capacity
100 kg

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Hornet Pilot handling guide –June 09
Cockpit Features
Canopy and Jettison
Two piece canopy with back section hinging backwards. Pull both red
levers back to unlock canopy. To jettison pull open both levers and
push canopy up. Care needs to be taken when opening or closing
canopy as overstressing can bend metal frame. Do not attempt to
close canopy without first unlocking red knob. Care is needed with an
open canopy in windy conditions. An open canopy can have similar
effect to a magnifying glass in sunny conditions and burn objects in
the cockpit. At no stage must the canopy itself or clear view side
window be held to lift or close canopy. Only hold levers or canopy
frame when opening or closing canopy. Always close and lock both
levers when leaving or ground handling glider.
Trim Ballast
No ballast compartment
Instruments
Radio
Vario
Flarm
Navagation
Logger
Becker
Borgelt B400
Yes
N/A
Colibri
Seat Adjustment
Backrest angle can be adjusted by moving knob on Right side of cockpit
forward or back.
Control Column
Anti P.I.O. (Pilot Induced Oscillation) parallelogram type. Control
column has a slightly different feel but is easy to get used to.
Ventilation
Right side of instrument panel
Trim
Green button on control Column. Pressing button moves trim with
stick position.
Wheel Brake
Hand grip lever on airbrake handle
Tow Rope Release
Nose hook. Conventional yellow handle
Water Ballast Lever
Black knob on right side.
Undercarriage Lever
Black handle on right side
Airbrake Lever
Blue handle on left side
Rudder Pedal Adjustment
Black knob on right side of control column
Battery
Behind headrest
Tie down kit
Behind headrest

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Hornet Pilot handling guide –June 09
Trim Ballast
The Hornet has no provision for trim ballast. Pilots who are under the minimum pilot weight can use
lead weights to sit on to bring them up to minimum weight. Consult an instructor to position and
secure the weight properly.
Min Pilot weight
74 kg
Max Pilot weight
103 kg
Daily Inspection notes
In addition to the daily inspection routine:
Tyre Pressures: Main Wheel: 36 psi
Tail Wheel: 22 psi
Main Pin: One main pin with a spring loaded lock
Always check TE probe, Pitot tube and Static Ports for blockages from wasp nests.
Check control box at the base of the control column. Foreign objects can get lodged in and
jam controls. Make sure the boot covering the box is secure and tight.
Open and check trailing edge airbrakes making sure hinges and control arms are secure.
Check control
box and re-fit
cover
T.E. Probe
Pitot
Static Ports
Check
airbrake
Hinges and
control arms

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Hornet Pilot handling guide –June 09
Glider Accessories and Storage
GMV has tow out gear used to enable the pilot to tow the glider to the launch point without the
need for extra help. Care must be taken to ensure that the felt on the inside of the wing walker and
tail dolly is in good order and is clean. Storage of tow out gear when not in use is marked on the wall
of the hangar. Do not leave on ground.
GMV also has a canopy cover. The cover must be installed when the glider is not in use and make
sure to attach the straps underneath also. When the glider is being flown store the cover in the
baggage compartment behind the pilots head in the cockpit. Care must taken to ensure cover is
kept clean as any dirt will scratch the canopy when cover is installed.
Always store the glider with the canopy cover on, side window closed and airbrakes unlocked to
reduce wear on the over-centre lock. If stored with one wing down place some protective carpet
and a wing weight on the lowered wingtip and remove the tail dolly to prevent the glider shifting in
windy conditions.
Wing walker pic
Tow bar pic
Tow out gear on wall pic

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Hornet Pilot handling guide –June 09
Flight Characteristics
Controls:
All controls are light to the feel and are responsive. See supplementary notes on trailing edge
airbrakes.
Aerotow:
Set trim forward. Raise tail and balance on main wheel when airspeed is gained ready for takeoff.
Themalling:
Recommended thermalling speed is 45 knots. The glider may have a tendency to drop a wing lower
than 45 knots. Add 10 knots speed for max water ballast.
Cruising:
The Hornet can be flown up to 75 knots before the sink rate becomes too excessive. Add 10 knots
for max water ballast. The Hornet has a 38:1 glide ratio with best LD at about 50 knots without
water ballast.
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 without water.
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:
Although the Hornet can be landed with water ballast still on board, it is recommended to dump
before landing. Water ballast must be dumped before temperature reaches 0 deg C. Dump time for
full water is approx. 2 minutes.
Circuit and Landing:
Use approach speed of 53 knots (no wind) minimum cockpit load
63 knots (no wind) maximum cockpit load
Setup finals approach for half airbrake
Roll control is adequate for ground roll
On ground roll when below stall speed, hold tail wheel on the ground by applying back stick.
This will help with directional control and help to prevent the glider nosing over and scraping
the belly.

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Hornet Pilot handling guide –June 09
Pilot responsibilities
Understand how to DI the glider
Understand how to operate the glider (including limitations)
Understand how to fill and fly with water ballast (including limitations)
Understand how to Rig / De-Rig the glider
Make yourself familiar with the Hornet trailer
Enjoy your flight in the Hornet
Supplementary Notes: Trailing Edge Airbrakes
Trailing edge airbrakes have a reputation in some people’s eyes of being dangerous and the cause of
some accidents in the past. Unlike standard scissor type airbrakes that increase the stall speed when
opened, trailing edge airbrakes reduce the stall speed when opened. This is because they act similar
to flaps only with a lot more drag.
The argument is:
The glider on short final has full airbrake out and is flying just above the stall speed. The pilot then
finds him/her self undershooting and puts the airbrakes away. The glider now stalls because the
stall speed is now higher than the airspeed with the brakes away.
It is easy to see that main problem with this argument is that the pilot should not be flying so slow in
the first place and one could say that they are asking for trouble no matter what type of airbrake
system they are using. Simply put, if you have the correct airspeed the change in stall speed will not
affect you.
Here are some tips regarding using trailing edge airbrakes:
Just like flaps, trailing edge airbrakes will tend to make the glider balloon or pitch the nose
up and slow the airspeed(standard scissor type airbrakes can tend to make the nose drop
and pick up speed)
Try not to put the airbrakes away when close to the ground (if you do, be prepared to lower
the nose if needed)
If it is the first time using trailing edge airbrakes then practice using them up high
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.