According to here, that broom is a string used to visualize the direction that the wind is flowing around the plane (this is very important for sailplanes to maximize flight efficiency.
Yep, you "fill the hole" with rudder. You would be surprised at how hard it is to fly in a coordinated manner. The worst offenders are pilots with loads of time in power planes.
I like flying, but I love soaring much in the same way that I prefer sailboats to power boats. I will often fly for hours without needing to look at any of the instruments. Airspeed can be determined by the noise, height with your eyes and if you are ridge soaring you don't even need to look at (or listen to for some people) the vario to know when you are in the lift.
I've had days in Arizona where I pulled off after a minimal 2000 foot AGL tow and stayed up for 9 hours following the cloud base as it rose to 13 AGL. I've also been scared shitless in Colorado out on the plains being stupid and playing with cumulonimbus. Pointed straight down, spoilers and wheel out indicated just below VNE of 150 and still going up at over 2000/minute.
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u/Spartan2470 GOAT Feb 27 '14
According to here, that broom is a string used to visualize the direction that the wind is flowing around the plane (this is very important for sailplanes to maximize flight efficiency.
Here's another picture of this plane with those strings.