Some newbie comments about Condor.

[Russell]

Well speaking as an instructor, you were very lucky to have had a tow in conditions that were so benign that your Condor flying read across. I have to say Condor is not simulating aero-towing all that well, and it will give a misleading impression of the RL situation in many cases. The ground run in particular is most unrealistic with the need to keep the tail on the deck to hold direction at the start. It is wildly out of realism in crosswinds as you will discover the first time you have to deal with one RL. If you did a Condor take off in RL and I was in the back seat with you, you would be going round again to get your technique tidied up I can tell you. I think a fair bit of the problem is the ultra short tow rope in Condor which tends to make any slight deviation in alignment much worse. Why we cannot have a normal length baffles me as it doesn't cost anymore for virtual rope. Also always using the belly hook is something most people would avoid if possible. Roll on V.2 where I hope these things will be fixed.

I have 1500+ tows in my book RL in case you think I don't know what I am talking about.

Hi,
Tow conditions were strong cross wind with strong thermic activity.Second tow was very much the same.1st tow was in a k21 the second a SZD 50-3.I must beg to differ as i realy do think that Condor helped me with towing,maybe not exactly the same but close enough to learn from.To be honest i dont care if you bump started the space shuttle 237 times and put that in your log book it is not going to change the fact that Condor has helped me with my real life flying

[Olympia]

Hi,
Tow conditions were strong cross wind with strong thermic activity.Second tow was very much the same.1st tow was in a k21 the second a SZD 50-3.I must beg to differ as i realy do think that Condor helped me with towing,maybe not exactly the same but close enough to learn from.To be honest i dont care if you bump started the space shuttle 237 times and put that in your log book it is not going to change the fact that Condor has helped me with my real life flying

Slow down. I didn't say Condor was no help for RL flying. It is excellent for circuit training and to a certain limited extent for soaring (no good for ridge flying for instance) but it is primarily, as currently set up, designed for competition pilots and not as a basic trainer. However you need to be aware that you may get away with things on a simulator which will catch you out in RL, like continuing thermalling down to 300ft, etc. I repeat, you were lucky in your experience on a first tow, but it would be a mistake to go around quoting this to other ab initio pupil pilots. Aeroplanes bite fools, and over confidence is a big problem with early solo pilots. When you have had your first - 'Wow, that wasn't too clever' experience RL you will know what I mean. There is an acronym 'ILAFFT' which means "I learned about flying from that' I strongly recommend you put this in your memory bank and write it in your log book whenever the need arises. I think I sent about 100 pupils solo in my time. AFAIK none of them has ever had an accident and I'm glad about that. Flying is inherently dangerous - he who forgets this may not last very long. I wish you a long and safe career as a glider pilot - you chose your sport well, there is nothing else like it.

[OXO]

I agree 100% Alistair. Maybe we could have an ILAFFT thread in Off-topic? I have a story to share

[OXO]

Moved your post into new thread in Off Topic Olympia.