Hi Everyone, I just started taking Glider lessons this last weekend. I'm a Power Pilot with a PPL. So I'll be working on a glider rating. I'm wondering if there are any good forums for soaring? I've googled it, and dont see allot. I gather that its such a niche sport, there isnt allot of...

I'm just starting out with soaring. Simple question for you guys. How many of you fly with an emergency parachute? It looks like they cost around $2000 online. Pretty steep price; although the cost is insignificant if it saves your life. Is this something I should be looking to purchase?

Thank you to everyone who provided their insight on the "Do I, dont I" get an emergency parachute. Hopefully this thread doesnt open another can of worms. Can anyone provide some web links of places I may be able to procure a used parachute? Also, what is a fair price for a parachute at 5 years...

It looks like a tow pilot can fly under a private pilots license. There are several stipulations, including needing to have 100 hours PIC in the same category aircraft, etc, etc. Does anyone know about the medical requirements? I currently am using BasicMED, and have no current plans to get any...

I am heading to England this afternoon for work. I'll be staying in Maidenhead for about a week. If I have any free time, it would be awesome to get in the air. Can anyone recommend a place I could get some glider time in that would be relatively nearby?

With Christmas coming up, what are some things worth asking Santa for? Is there any decent GPS devices that are reasonably priced? I'm thinking around the $500 mark. I already have a handheld transceiver. I have a nice headset for power planes. I have a parachute. At my soaring club, all of...

I remember seeing recommendations for digital cameras. Since I laid mine my Casio point & shoot down somewhere, I'm in the market for a new one. Thus, is there an archive of the old posts? I purchased and tried the Panasonic Lunex DMC-FZ18, but returned it because I don't like the flash...

Anyone with experience soaring the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Planning a trip for year 2005. Recall seeing a website with a PowerPoint type of presentation but long lost the link. Help greatly appreciated. November Bravo

I'm having a lot of trouble hearing that 50% portion of radio calls that have marginal modulation, wind noise, mumbling speakers, etc. The other 50% come through load and clear. Tired of needing to close my side vent, crank the volume, and ask for a repeat. I doubt a campaign to get everyone's...

Looks like Burt Rutan at Scaled Composites is going to get the record for the highest, non-government glider flight on June 21 when he sends his glider (via rocket power) into space. Details at http://www.xprize.org/ Calling for return glide of less than 30 minutes to get back down from over...

Anybody have information on the Themi thermal locator? Check news at www.eglider.org My guess is the device is using GPS position and altitude, along with some math to determine which direction you are currently turning, and then to 'guess' where the thermal core is. The device then lights a...

As more self launch sailplanes are built, what will be the effect on soaring growth? Will soaring clubs decline? Will self launchers disperse to many more airports, creating more exposure? Any thoughts?

How many gliders can be trimmed for hands off thermalling? An instructor showed me, with spoilers open and proper trim, the glider will stabilize in a slow descending turn. Claimed it was good for getting out of a cloud. Neat, but would not want to thermal with the spoilers open.

Goneill wrote As a single seater consider the Lak 12 ,a bear to rig if you don't have the rigging gear but is a huge cockpit and a max placarded weight 140kg - 150kg without tailballast.and 50/1 ld I would guess you do not have much experience/knowledge of the LAK 12. It is not 'a bear to...

The main Soaring Server http://soaring.aerobatics.ws which was offline for a bit last week is back up. There are two identical "mirror" sites at http://soaring.gahsys.com and http://soaring.xinqu.net available for this eventuality, or regular use. Apologies for the inconvenience, many thanks...

Guenther Eichhorn's Soaring Server http://acro.harvard.edu] has gone away after more than a decade of service. The fact that we rely so heavily on this service led us a couple of years ago to establish a mirror site in New Zealand, thanks to Philip Plane http://soaring.xinqu.net/ ] so there should...

The Soaring Server came back online a couple of hours ago at http://acro.harvard.edu/SOARING/JL and will have the last couple of days updates in 10 hours or so. Please do remember to save the URL of the mirror site "just in case" http://soaring.xinqu.net/JL/

The Soaring Server is temporarily out of service with a hardware problem, however the mirror site is up-to-date apologies for the inconvenience, John Leibacher

I have updated the informal listing of US tail IDs with the last 17 years of contest results at http://soaringweb.org/CN/ and mirror sites. There is a lot of hand editing and input from the community, so please send along your corrections and additions to John...

The 2005 SSA PRL is online at http://soaring.aerobatics.ws http://soaring.xinqu.net and http://soaring.gahsys.com ] Note that there are several 2004 contests for which the paperwork has not been received from the contest organizers yet - come'on folks! - and results from those contests are just...