CONDOR

Theoretical blabla.. just go with your instinct and do what your flight instructor tells you to do..

(and that is; flapped gliders start with flaps negative, so you got more aileron pressure at low speeds..)

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Team member of GliderTracking.com

Hmmm.... don't know about that.
And human instincts can be dangerous in aviation.

The correct takeoff procedures are described by the manufacturer of the airplane model in the flight manual.
After an accident, aircraft accident investigators always check if those procedures have been followed, not what an instructor might have said.
After many hours of experience, or many takeoffs for that matter, on a particular glider model, it's the Pilot's responsibility to refine these procedures in order to improve the model's behaviour under certain cirsumstances.

Even if such "refinements" lead to dramatic improvements in behaviour of the airplane, not many manufacturers are inclined to go through the certification process again, and add them to the flight manual.

So, legally, this is wrong.
And if, after an accident, investigators determine that the cause of the accident was that the airbrakes were open during takeoff or the flaps were set to the wrong position, the insurance companies clap their hands and will not pay.

That said, I will continue to be wrong in my glider.

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Reg: PH-7270
Cn: "ZA"

Oh dear. I think you over simplify. Showing graphs of lift versus AoA without the corresponding drag curve is not telling the whole story. Putting your flaps down will increase the drag as well as the lift. I rest my case. Try lifting your wing with rudder if it drops. Quicker than messing about with brakes and flaps I think, and time is of the essence here.

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Old wooden ship pilot
Reg No. 464 (LLC 377)
CN: AW

First of all, thermal is right about the flight manual.. each flapped glider should be controlled differently.. I'm only experienced with a ASW20 flapped glider..

The airflow around the wing is probably highly turbulent, and control surfaces will be inefficient. Reduce that "angle of attack" with your flaps and the control surface is working in undisturbed (or less disturbed) air, and should be more effective. Raise the tail, and turbulence should be at a minimum. At low speeds, you just want to have more aileron pressure.. When I am in normal speed and still rolling, I will put my flapperons from negative to neutral and we are off..

About dropping the wing, we also didn't spoke about propwash, a bad tiprunner or crosswind.. these are also factors what makes your wing drop during tow..

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Team member of GliderTracking.com

If everybody does thing the way theiy are supposed to be done everything will be alright. Realy clever people have thought this stuff trough realy carefully and put it in the manual. If the manual say's start with flaps negative I do.

I just think it realy interesting to know what goes on and why stuff happens the way it does.

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PH-2729, WS