Any Below Knee Amputee pilots With Tips on Flying?

[Tate Spencer]

Hey all, I am a rated glider pilot that is thinking about taking the next step and buying a glass ship and starting to fly XC.  My only concern is the seating position in high performance gliders / the lack of space up front by the rudder petals.  The club I fly at has a 1-34 that I have no problem flying, I know its no glass ship but its the closest thing we have to one.  I am curious if there are any other leg amputees on this thread and if so how have you navigated flying gliders with the use of a prosthetic? I know the overlap between glider pilots and amputees is probably pretty small but I figured it can't hurt to ask! 

Thanks!

Tate 

[Charles Mampe]

You may want to check with "Freedoms Wings", they do glider flying with pilots with disabilities.

[Cliff Hilty]

Send me your contact info and Ill forward it to a friend whose left leg below the knee is prosthetic. He is a CFIG and flew a Duo Discus XL. Mine is (cliffhilty) at (gmail.com)

Cliff

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[George Haeh]

The ASW 20B/C, 24, 27 and others have tilt up instrument panels which may help with entry and exit, along with a decent range of rudder pedal adjustment and seat back positions. 

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  George Haeh

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[Chip Bearden]

It's not exactly en pointe but related: back in the 1980s, Terry Frazier was flying contests in, IIRC, an ASW 20 using his prosthetic legs (he was a double amputee). I know he also went through getting approval for full hand controls in a 2-33, though I don't think he ended up needing or using them. There's an article in  the Dec 1980 Soaring: https://magazine.ssa.org/viewer?y=1980&m=12&p=26&o=0&q=terry%20amputee%20. Others from that era might recall more details. I met Terry at a nationals in Cordele and I know he was quite active for a while.

Chip Bearden 

JB

[Chip Bearden]

Correction: On reflection, I don't know if Terry Frazier flew his glider with his prosthetic legs. There was a story back then about, if he landed out in those pre-cellular days, he had to get to a landline telephone without them. So he may have had something installed in the glider to allow him to fly without them.

Chip Bearden

JB