Amazing World Gliding Championships Photos

[7K]

We have over 500 pictures on our camera, plus video that we will post form the Worlds here in Poland, but until then, I want to pass along some Facebook pages with a lot of great pictures. It's really worth a look.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.748048655257652.1073741833.144240342305156&type=1

https://www.facebook.com/studioltv/photos_stream

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/59659_749479505114567_3603563171241284611_n.jpg

7K

[Andy K]

On Thursday, July 31, 2014 5:14:36 PM UTC-4, 7K wrote:
> We have over 500 pictures on our camera, plus video that we will post form the Worlds here in Poland, but until then, I want to pass along some Facebook pages with a lot of great pictures. It's really worth a look.
>
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> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.748048655257652.1073741833.144240342305156&type=1
>
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> https://www.facebook.com/studioltv/photos_stream
>
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> https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/59659_749479505114567_3603563171241284611_n.jpg
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>
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> 7K

I like the picture where you land and the lightning is just behind you, must have been exciting. Good luck!

[Dave Nadler]

On Thursday, July 31, 2014 5:28:18 PM UTC-4, Andy K wrote:
> I like the picture where you land and the lightning is
> just behind you, must have been exciting. Good luck!

Mark wants lightening just behind him to help him
fly faster. My favorite is the guy just about to
land gear-up (can you see his expression?)...

[GM]

On Thursday, July 31, 2014 5:14:36 PM UTC-4, 7K wrote:
> We have over 500 pictures on our camera, plus video that we will post form the Worlds here in Poland, but until then, I want to pass along some Facebook pages with a lot of great pictures. It's really worth a look.
>
>
>
> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.748048655257652.1073741833.144240342305156&type=1
>
>
>
> https://www.facebook.com/studioltv/photos_stream
>
>
>
> https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/59659_749479505114567_3603563171241284611_n.jpg
>
>
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> 7K

How did the next five seconds following picture 32 turn out? I hope well!
Also, the guy in picture 28 is about to have an 'oh $hit-moment'. Looks like the gear is on its way back up.
Uli

[Andy K]

On Thursday, July 31, 2014 6:40:04 PM UTC-4, Dave Nadler wrote:
> On Thursday, July 31, 2014 5:28:18 PM UTC-4, Andy K wrote:
>
> > I like the picture where you land and the lightning is
>
> > just behind you, must have been exciting. Good luck!
>
>
>
> Mark wants lightening just behind him to help him
>
> fly faster. My favorite is the guy just about to
>
> land gear-up (can you see his expression?)...

I can't believe people buy a $150 k glider without a "gear up" warning.

[7K]

Hi Marshall,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems you haven't been in flying very long, because if you had, you would know that there are lots of very smart people who have done the same. And more than you know that have come very close.. Smartness and how much they paid for the glider have nothing to do with it.

Allow me to set the stage here so you can understand a little better. There are about 132 gliders here. Most of them finish within a very short period of time each day, so it gets very busy on final glide, approach and landing. We can land three gliders side by side if we have to, and frequently we do. There is little room for error. Even two miles out on the approach, we have to commit to one of the lanes so that we don't turn in to the glider that we can't see above or below us to each side. Then throw in weather and what the glider that just landed in front is going to do. Did I mention that his crew car is rushing out to get him, and in my path too? Don't forget that there are another three gliders behind me, lined up for the same patch of real estate that is my landing spot for only a brief time. We have to land long to give them enough room to do that, while avoiding the previously mentioned obstacles. It's amazing choreography and it's intense. Are you dizzy yet?

Most of the time we handle this very well, but occasionally one of us makes a human error while trying to prioritize and then minimize the risks we face. I'm not excusing any gear up landing. I'm just saying that those of us with decades of flying experience don't criticize a gear up landing because the pilot wasn't "smart" enough. The reason we don't is because we know it can happen to us on the next landing. We also try very hard to let a little time elapse before we hit the send button.

Here's to the hope that you and I never scrape the belly. Cheers!

7K

[Jim White[_3_]]

Ther are two kinds of glider pilot. Those that have landed wheels up and
those that are going to one day.

[Chris Rollings[_2_]]

And a few vintage enthusiasts who only fly fixed wheel gliders.

At 12:01 01 August 2014, Jim White wrote:
>Ther are two kinds of glider pilot. Those that have landed wheels up and
>those that are going to one day.
>
>

[Dave Nadler]

On Friday, August 1, 2014 8:01:24 AM UTC-4, Jim White wrote:
> There are two kinds of glider pilot.
> Those that have landed wheels up and those that are going to one day.

Actually, the third kind is:
- those that have landed gear up more than once

See ya, Dave

PS: It would be extremely rude to ask me how I know.

[GM]

On Friday, August 1, 2014 9:13:01 AM UTC-4, Chris Rollings wrote:
> And a few vintage enthusiasts who only fly fixed wheel gliders.
>

... or the ones that fly gliders which don't have any wheels at all .....
There are still a few of those around - gliders and pilots!

Uli

[Papa3[_2_]]

Not to mention the pilots who have landed gear up, only to get out of the glider and complain that they were completely distracted by that damn buzzer that was going off the whole way down final.

P3 (Two kills to my credit)

[[email protected]]

Thanks for not landing my 7K wheels up M.

[Andy K]

On Friday, August 1, 2014 8:03:12 PM UTC-4, Papa3 wrote:
> Not to mention the pilots who have landed gear up, only to get out of the glider and complain that they were completely distracted by that damn buzzer that was going off the whole way down final.
>
>
>
> P3 (Two kills to my credit)

This is so funny. Did it ever really happen to anyone?

[[email protected]]

On Saturday, August 2, 2014 7:53:59 AM UTC-4, Andy K wrote:
> On Friday, August 1, 2014 8:03:12 PM UTC-4, Papa3 wrote:
>
> > Not to mention the pilots who have landed gear up, only to get out of the glider and complain that they were completely distracted by that damn buzzer that was going off the whole way down final.
>
> >
>
> > I recall Stan Smith, 2 time national champion explaining exactly why he landed gear up in front of the crowd.
He said " If you had to listen to a screaming buzzer, lots of radio noise, and avoid a whole bunch of people out near the runway running around and waving their arms, you would probably get distracted and forget the gear too".
> >
> It brought the house down.
UH

>
>
>
> This is so funny. Did it ever really happen to anyone?