P2 Test - Study Guide

Have a good understanding of the following terms and concepts:

• Flying Speeds - Trim, Min Sink, Best Glide, Best L/D ...
  
  
• Speed to Fly concepts
  
  
• Airspeed, Groundspeed and Airspeed vs Groundspeed
  
  
• Upwind, Downwind, Crabbing
  
  
• Rotors and Mechanical Turbulence
  
  
• Know that Stalls have no true warning signs, they happen only when the angle of attack is too high. When a stall does occur, the pilot swings forward and usually falls leaning backward.
  
  
• Porosity and its relationship to a wing's life
  
  
• Angle of Attack and its relationship to a Stall
  
  
• Right of Way Rules
  
  
  
  • Ridge, who has right of way
    
    
  • Give Way to the Right
    
    
  • Low Man has right of way
    
    
  • Thermalling, first in sets direction - All circle in same direction
    
    
    
• What glider certification says about a glider
  
  
• Know that there is no specific number of hours of UV that can be specified for the life of a glider, it depends on original fabric and intensity of radiation etc. People generalize about this, but nothing is set in reality.
  
  
• Know the following terms:
  • Wind Gradient
  • Lapse Rate
  • Dew Point
  • Rotor
    
    
• FAR Part 103:
  • Class A, B, C, D, etc.
  • Know what controlled vs uncontrolled airspace is
  • Know where Ultralight craft can and cannot fly (specifically what zones on a Sectional we cannot fly in).
    
    
• USHPA Part 103:
  • Study over all Recommended Operating Limitations , know them and know what and be able to recognize what is not recommended.
    
    
• Know what Object Fixation is and why it is important to look where you want to fly rather than to fly toward what you fear.

Learn the below to be able to estimate how far you will go with regard to a headwind or tailwind.

Gliders generally get their best glide near trip. Trim is generally near 20 MPH. So, if a glider gets a Best Glide rate of 8 to 1, then if it flies from a 500 ft. hill in 0 wind with no lift or sink, it should glide 8 times 500 ft., so 4,000 ft.

The math is to simply multiply the height by the glide ratio number (8 in this case). So:

Distance travelled "DT" in 0 wind will be

DT = Height x Glide or DT = 500 x 8

So, if you are told that a glider gets an 8 to 1 glide at 20 mph and there is a 5 MPH headwind, it would eat up 25% of the distance or you could say you would go 75% as far.

DT = Height x Glide x .75 --- So, 75% of 4,000 = 3,000 ft.

If we turn this around, to calculate how far you will travel with a 5 mph tailwind, you would instead multiply by 1.25. With the 5 mph tailwind, instead of travelling at 20 MPH, your groundspeed increases to 25 MPH (a 25% increase over 20).

In all cases, your sink rate does not change, so the time you will be in the air is constant. What changes is simply your speed and that is in direct correlation to the distance you will travel.