Hi All, I'm looking at building a tripod-type stand to hang water jugs from to make filling my glider with water ballast a little bit easier. Just curious if there is anyone out there that has something similar already built. If so, I was hoping you could send me some pictures of your setup in...

Happy holidays all: A project for me this Winter is to upgrade my ballast system on my PIK-20. I have two questions and would appreciate any assistance. (1) One of my bags has a single pinhole leak and I wonder if this can be repaired in a reliable manner. The material seems to be a thick...

Hi, I'm struggling to elimitate water ballast leaks in a LS-7 after it has not been used for years. The wing valves seem to be one of the challenges. They leak regardless of the force applied to the actuator. I assume the valves are the same as in LS6c (and not available as spare part any...

My Nimbus 2C has a rotating shaft that passes through the root rib into the integral wing tank. This shaft operates the dump valve. This shaft has about 1mm radial play and appears to be leaking water at a slow rate. I detect no axial play. I find that the closing spring can be gently...

Another option, of course, is to just fly dry. Accept the lower speed and the rougher ride in turbulence, and just fly. Heck, it has been done that way before! As for studies, I remember hearing of Bob Barber flying his Mosquito wet, high, under a cloudstreet in Colorado. He would get...

The manual for my Ventus C states that there are 5 holes in the fin which holds up to 5 liters of water. You tape up one less hole than the liters you want. for example, if you want 3 liters, you tape up the bottom two holes. Now the problem. My Ventus C has 6 holes. More capacity? different...

Wheel down is the safe way to land on water. I believe that "wheeling it on", in other words, not a minimum energy landing is the way to go. Locking the wheel brake (for gliders which have wheel brakes actuated by other than the dive brake handle) might be a good idea. Bush pilots land wheeled...

In the July, 2008 edition of "Gliding International", edited by John Roake, there's this word on water landings: "Walter Schneider and Wolf Lemke of LS fame carried out water landing test and ditched an LS1 prior to the World Championships in Finland. They were worried about the lack of land out...

Found the water meter in litres. http://www.watermeters.com.au/prod79.htm

Hi after recommendations for a good water meter in Litres. A faulty meter last year cost me dearly. It reverted to gallons somehow and displayed litres. Sydney Australia The links to Auzzie comps are on my site www.mals.net

Does anybody have experience with this product or similar?: http://www.watersavers.com/docs/yardandgarden_wat.shtml I am looking for an inexpensive and lightweight water meter to measure ballast. Any suggestions? Roy

Has anybody experience with central venting like an ASW 24 but with a hard tank. I am preparing the internals of the wings and I would like to vent three tanks in on wing independently and join the three vents lines at a manifold at the root rip and then with a single line up to the deck. Comments...

I was surprised that Karl's column in the November issue of soaring hasn't generated any comment. To start the thread, I'll point out an important fallacy in Karl's argument. Karl suggests that water is unnecessary: a complicating factor in a sport that only gives advantage if one pilot can...

Should I get bags that allow max gross weight or should I get small once for the present 9 lb/ft/sq rule, if available? Can the larger bag be tied off to prevent sloshing? Regards Udo

A novice question for the skymasters. When ballasting my Schleicher should I completely remove the plastic cover-plate over the drain on the undersurface of the wing, or should I leave the cover attached with the tape hinge at the front and detached at the rear with cover-plate hanging down knowing...

Hi All, I'm looking for info or advice on building a watering stand for my PIK. You can see what I built on my facebook page (Blake Seese) If anyone has pictures of theirs, would love to see them. Thanks, 3Y

Anyone in the east find wave this past weekend?

9 years after my 300km, yesterday I finally managed to climb a bit more than 3000m during my first wave flight. Not a big achievement compared to the "real" wave flights but for me 2005 seems to be a happy year so far:) /Janos

Hi all, Below is a copy of SoaringNV's (glider FBO at Minden, NV) most recent wave alert email. Towards the bottom is a shameless account of what some may construe as flagrant cheating by pilot Gordo Boettger in a not so obvious attempt at cornering a world record in the new 52 meter open...

I wrote an article for the SSA magazine about the Ridge and Wave Soaring in Oklahoma. The article did not get published because they had received similar articles from two other sources. I am sure that you probably read the SSA article in the Clubs Section of the Magazine. What was published in the...