A newsgroup may well be one of the worst imaginable venues for 'selling safety' (other than Twitter, of course...) but the recent threads focusing on it set me to musing. Don't look for any pithy snippets of panacea wisdom in what follows, but if some of it gets a reader or two to cogitating on...

Hi, I have a few items that are slightly out of date that need to go. They are all new and in perfect condition. http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/sale.htm Borgelt B500 units: $1295 (formerly $1700+) Borgelt B400/B500 2nd-seat repeaters: $195 (formerly $330) Borgelt DAD vario average display units...

It's hard to get an idea from this video of just how nice a place Triple Tree is. There are lots of YouTube videos out there. This is from our annual summer event to remember Harald Behrend. Harald was the long time Chief Tow Pilot at Carolina Soaring and a fine person. Winch Launch, Aero Tow,...

For Flarm to be effective, the other guy has to have Flarm installed too? "FLARM (the name being inspired from 'flight alarm') obtains its position from an internal GPS and a barometric sensor and then broadcasts this with forecast data about the future 3d flight track. Its receiver listens for...

Cliff Robertson, friend and promoter of soaring. Sep 10, 2011 Cliff Robertson, the handsome movie actor who played John F. Kennedy in "PT-109," won an Oscar for "Charly" and was famously victimized in a 1977 Hollywood forgery scandal, died Saturday. He was 88. His secretary of 53 years, Evelyn...

http://tinyurl.com/4yt53wh

What is a typical depreciation value for gliders that clubs/owners use in accounting for the cost of gliders? Do you assume linear depreciation? (This is a difficult value to estimate, given the lack of easily available data for second-hand glider prices throughout a reasonable time span.)

The Dust Devil Dash contest was delayed one week because of a TFR (Fire in Tehachapi). The Dash is this Saturday September 17th, 2011 from Mountain Valley Airport in Tehachapi, California. The Dash is a straight-out handicapped free-distance race contest. Contact the Contest Director Ian Cant...

Modern gliders give very little indications of a stall (another reason why training in old clunkers like the 2-33 is counterproductive). Add a little distraction or a higher priority task (Bee in the cockpit!) Is a bee in the cockpit enough of a distraction or a higher...

I am in the midst of a project to install a gear/airbrake warning system on my glider based on the built-in capability of my Cambridge 302. This system is better than the simple "airbrakes open, gear up" warning system (http://www.wingsandwheels.com/pdf/gear%20warning.pdf) as it also alerts the...

I had to come down to Tucson AZ (from Portland, OR) for a week or two. While down here, I'd be interested in getting up in a glider to see what the soaring in southern AZ is like. I found the website and would like to speak with somebody in the club if they are willing - just a bunch of Q&A type...

What are next year's dates, don't see it on SSA. Thanks, Fred

http://www.aflyer.com/1109_f_soaringaboveobstacles.html

Looking for recommendations/ advice wrt attending some of the xc camps put on by various organizations/clubs in the USA. My time schedule is such that weekend club flying is not going to get my skills level to where I want it to be in the time frame I'm dealing with, so am looking for an...

Anyone have a sneak preview on dates/sites for next year's US nationals (or regionals) beyond what's on the SSA site so far? Picking vacations next week... Thanks in advance, Erik

Witnesses indicate two sailplanes in the same thermal. Anyone have pilot names or are these Alberta Soaring Council people? Some of them were just here with their new winch, visiting us in the Southwest US. WWW.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2011/09/04/bc-glider-crash.html Karen

Hi! Last winter, I ordered a "Platinum Canopy Cover" from Wings And Wheels and I was told after a few weeks that the person producing them was sick and had stop production. Last week, I found out on Cumulus Soaring website that the "SimplyKool" canopy cover was available. Is this the same kind of...

Hi; We spend a lot of time discussing electronic collision avoidance devices, and advice to keep a good lookout. To help the situation we could also make our aircraft more visible to those what are keeping that good lookout. Isn't some sort of visibility marking required in Europe? A search of...

Does anyone have any good ASW27 all weather canopy cover solution covering the "Eastern Sailplane" top rear exhaust vent?

I have found the very excellent series "Air Accident Investigation" on YouTube. Google "Air Accident Investigation", click "video", long (24 min+) then YouTube. This series focuses on airline accidents in the last 1/2 century or so. However, the accidents, subsequent investigations and the...