Glider into IMC near mishap

[benyflyguy]

Saw this over on reddit. Pretty scary.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Yea, hard to stay shiny side up without a gyro of any kind.

Some gliders have a ball indicator which could help in an emergency, but I don’t think it makes the glider IFR certified!

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

A skid ball won't help you in IMC. Gliders usually have a yaw string instead of a skid ball, does the same thing but more sensitive. You can see it taped to the canopy in the video.

You’re right. Maybe the one I am thinking of had a gyroscopic turn coordinator, electrically driven.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

True, but very few Attitude indicators are unpowered. Bohli compass is called a compass because it is a compass. But is designed to show attitude information as well.

Brian

Does someone have a link to how these Bohli compasses are designed and work? Quick DDG search not showing up anything informative.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Juan Brown has a good point-by-point review of this flight.

I liked that video rather well. Very scary situation and good recovery by the student glider pilot.

I noticed one small item when he is talking about the inner ear. He says that the vestibular apparatus cannot work without sight, which is not quite correct. They work but basically lose track of the absolute position after about 15-30 seconds because of what amounts to a low pass filter. The system evolved to detect rapid accelerations, not track long term position. But this is a small point and he explains the operation over time correctly.