Student Pilot Written Presolo Test for Chicago Glider Club September 1, 2012 Student name and date Instructor name and review date Note: These questions are designed to satisfy FAR 61.87 (b) for local operations at the Chicago Glider Club in the ASK21, with their current configuration and instrumentation. The instructor should review all incorrect answers with the student before authorizing that student to conduct a solo flight, and say so in the student s logbook. Directions: Write your answers below the questions. For legal questions, you get extra credit for reference to a specific FAR. Part 61. 1. As a student pilot, what minimum visibility must you have to fly? 2. You did your first few solo flights in the ASK21, but it s busy today. You have flown the Duo several times with your instructor and feel confident to take it up instead. What, if anything, do you need to do in order to legally fly the Duo? 3. How long is your student license valid? What do you need to do to check that it s valid and keep it up to date? 4. After having soloed a few times, do you need any additional paperwork in order to legally fly cross country? 5. What s the legal definition of cross-country? Can you legally fly the Morris-Joliet-Sweedler triangle? 6. What documents are required to be on board your sailplane and on your person prior to take-off? Part 91 1. The wind comes up strongly from the north, and you think it would be safer to land at Morris because you re not sure you can handle the cross wind. Your instructor calls on the radio and tells you he thinks it s ok to land back at the airport and retrieving from Morris will be a pain. Who has the final legal authority and responsibility for making this decision? 2. Are you ever legally allowed to deviate from the FARs? For example, if you re low over Morris but not yet allowed to go cross-country, is necessarily illegal for you to land there? 3. You ve had a beer at 2 AM. a) Can you fly a pattern tow at 8 am? b) Are you legal at noon? What considerations other than time determines your legality to fly? 4. What is the Class or Classes of airspace directly over CGC, and what VFR minimums are associated with them? Why do you have to stay so far away from clouds? 1
5. You re on base leg to 27, but you notice an airplane coming in on long final from your right. (You do quickly look out while on base leg, rather than just stare at the airport, right?) Who has the legal right of way? What if you re on a right base to 09, so the airplane is coming in from your left? 6. You suddenly see a glider coming straight at you under a cloudstreet (this happens). Which way should you move to avoid each other? 7. If a high performance glider is going to pass you, which side should he legally do that on, right or left? (Note, don t count on other pilots knowing this, so look even if you re turning the other way.) 8. Late evening flights are beautiful, both for practice in smooth air and sometimes there is lift that lasts past sunset. a) How long can you legally operate CGC gliders past sunset, if there is enough twilight to clearly see the runway, and the usual visibility requirements hold? b) Could you be illegal even though you can see the sun and it hasn t set? Other Regulations 1. Occasionally, President Obama comes home to cut the grass and flying is illegal near our airport. On other days, Morris airport and surrounding airspace have been closed for an airshow, Joliet has had a closed runway due to repaving, and there has been an area of closed airspace around the race track at the East refinery. How do you find out if any of this is true on a given day? 2. You show up at the airport, it s a nice day with weather you feel comfortable with, and within any limitations placed on your endorsements, but no instructor is around. Is it legal for you to fly? Glider operations 1. What will you do if the tow plane: a) Rocks its wings b) Fans the rudder in the air (rudder goes back and forth without yawing the fuselage) c) Fans the rudder on the ground d) Yaws the towplane from side to side 2. You come up to 2000, you pull the release, and the handle comes off the cable in your hand. This happened to the Duo-Discus. The radio doesn t work. What should you do now? 3. The CGC towplane takes you back to the airport and levels off at 1800 AGL and won t go any higher. He does not rock his wings. What s happening? Should you release? 4. How would you know if the tow plane was losing power, but the propeller did not stop turning? (This has happened at our club several times.) 5. If the rope breaks or releases unexpectedly what is the first thing you do? 6. List all the signs of an approaching stall you can think of. 7. What is a secondary stall, and which of these signs are present in that case? 2
8. What is more dangerous, a slipping turn (not enough rudder) or a skidding turn (too much rudder, not enough bank)? 9. Why is it important to check airspeed and coordination for base and final turns? 10. Is it safer to do shallow turns in the pattern 10-20 degrees or to do steeper turns 40-50 degrees? 11. You feel some turbulence, get a bit confused, and find the nose pointing down and you re turning. How do you tell if this is a spin or a spiral dive? How do you recover from each? 12. Describe how you would join other gliders in a thermal. 13. How fast should you fly the ASK 21 in the following circumstances? Include indications other than airspeed numbers such as buffeting, airspeed indicator markings, and names such as minimum sink speed. The principles are more important than memorized numbers a) Thermaling in a very shallow, 10 degree bank b) Thermaling in a 30 degree bank c) Thermaling in a 60 degree bank d) Flying around, trying to stay up as long as possible. e) Going from one thermal to another f) You realize you re far from the airport and want to get back losing as little height as possible. g)..and you are downwind of the airport, in a 20 mph wind. h) If you re in sink too, should you speed up more, even though that means coming down like a rock, or slow down to conserve altitude? i) You want to get home as fast as possible because rain is coming in, but it s pretty turbulent. 14. After takeoff you notice that you re sitting on a leftover lead cushion, and that you didn t notice many trim weights still in the glider. What effect will this have on the glider s flying qualities? 15. When you fly solo the weight of the instructor will suddenly not be in the glider. How will this affect the glider s handling qualities? 16. What is the cg position in the ASK21 at your flying weight? (You need to do the WB calculation or use the club computer program to answer this question.) Where are you relative to the forward and aft limits, placards in the glider, and other weight limits established for this glider? 16. If you start to have a PIO on takeoff or landing, especially if you are repeatedly hitting the wheel and bouncing up, what is the best way to stop this? 17. What are the common causes of PIOs that you should avoid in the first place? 18. You re lost. What major landmarks near CGC can you use to locate the airfield? 19. You re on a glide towards the airport, but you re not sure if you re going to make it. What are some ways of figuring out if you re making progress on your glide? 3
20. The wind often changes while you re in the air. List several ways of detecting wind speed and direction from the air. 21. a) While you were flying, the wind increases to 15 mph from the west. How will you modify your pattern and landing to account for the wind, and what common mistakes should you make sure to avoid? b) Same, north wind, landing on 27 c) Same, south wind, landing on 09 22. We usually do patterns on the south side of the airport. Why? When might you do a pattern on the north side, and what additional precautions might you take in doing so? Refer to the above selection from a sectional chart. 23. Suppose you have to land at Morris. What radio frequency do you use to listen to find out about other traffic? What would you say on the radio to tell other airplanes what you re up to? 24. If you have to land at Sweedler, and your altimeter says 1590 feet, how high are you above the airport? 25. What is the meaning, and practical implication for our flying, of the shaded blue line market V 171 running north, just to the west of CGC? 26. What is the meaning of the blue object looking like a radiation sign just northwest of Rossis? 27: Where are we likely to see large jets and why? 28.What are good altitude minimums for the ASK21 in no wind 4
a) At the middle of the west refinery b) Over the trailer park on interstate 80 c) Over the powerplant north of interstate 80 d) At the 80-55 intersection e) Over the east refinery f) At Morris and Joliet airports State how you come up with numbers. If you have a map or internet (google earth) use that to measure distances. If not, use the above map and the one-minute cross-hatches, which measure one nautical mile. If you have prepared a map previously you may simply report approximate altitudes from your map. 29 How do you find out if the weather is legal and safe for flying? ^_^_^_^_^_^_^ 30 Draw your rope break emergency options on the above picture of the airport. Consider options for north and south crosswinds, and strong vs. weak headwinds 31 What are your usual aim points for landings to the east and west? What special concerns should you have landing to the east? 5
32. You flare too high (or maybe bounce too high) using half spoilers during landing. What do you do to correct this? 33. What is wind gradient? Where are you most likely to encounter it when flying? What actions do you take to respond to it? 34. What are the risks associated with a downwind landing? 35. What are the risks associated with a downwind takeoff? 36. Where can you find the dates of the last annual inspections for the club s ASK21 s and what are they? 6