Hi, this post is for everyone interested in planes of all sorts. I’ve just acquired a new website (www.aviationearth.com) that is all about aviation news, images, videos, articles and more. The aircraft are both old and new from around the entire world. The database is not complete yet but is...

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=20396

Seems I'm towing more than soaring these days... A couple of days ago, while rolling out on final at about 300' AGL, a strong gust under the high wing upset the Pawnee. Fortunately (for me), I carry a lot of energy around the final turn, and was able to recover and land normally. I had to...

Not to start another chapter in "Battery Wars" but I have a simple question about "drop in" LiFePO4 battery replacements for SLA batteries in gliders. For years, I've used an SLA battery with the same footprint as the common glider size of 7Ah to 9Ah--i.e., 5.95" x 2.56"--except a little...

Would anyone like to carry out the following experiment? Upon touchdown on a sealed runway, close the brakes, don't use the wheel brake and see how far the glider rolls. If you feel like doing this please let me know the results and include glider type, approximate weight, wind, altitude,...

An early-season accident in Germany yesterday (Feb. 27, 2021), with a happy outcome: an ASK-21 ends up hanging among trees close to the Burg Feuerstein Airfield (Bayern); no injuries to the pilot reported. I like the way the rope is used to secure the pilot by recovery. Watch the...

Several years ago,I was killing time during the region 8 contest by playing my guitar. Suddenly, I received a vision for the following soaring song. It is sung for obvious reasons to the melody of the old ballad "Ghost Riders In the Sky" Have a chuckle. "Glass Drivers in the...

Be advised the following is a link to a Gerorge Carlin video with extremely strong language. DON'T WATCH IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED. https://youtu.be/JSbT7JVNEU4

I took the afternoon off work today to fly my old Libelle. I left work at 1245, assembled my glider, and took off from the Bishop Airport behind Hangar One's Husky at 1330. There was strong lift on tow and I released in a good thermal that took me to over 13,000 feet. I flew north up the...

First day of the Avenal contest this uear, the call was 25 mile turn area task around just one turn (Buena Vista). I struggled for over an hour and finally made it to about 25 miles north of the turn. Found myself on a low ridge covered with oil wells. Flew down the ridge and didn't find a thing....

I have a secret. Well, like secrets in a Congressional Intelligence subcommittee, this one is probably known by several hundred people. But I haven’t written about it. Until now. But first, the lead in. A few days ago on the last day at the Cordele nationals, I dropped a wing on takeoff. The...

Last year I was looking for such a device to allow me to montitor my speed more easily on approach so I didn't have to glance at the panel during this critical stage of flight. I found this affordable, small box that plumbs into your pitot line and runs on 12V. It is made in England. I only turn it...

We can all learn much about life from this: https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/09/living/higher-call-military-chivalry/index.html

Soaring and Sailplane content is lacking here. Just seeing if RAS is broken similarly for me.

What happens if we handicap pilots instead of aircraft..... Have a handicap card for each pilot airplane combination. If I can consistantly get 50% of the possible points earned by the days winner, I would get a series of normalization factors (2.00) that over time would reflect my...

New Scientist just picked up on two cases where Cirrus SR-20 drivers pulled the BRS trick and 5 people came down safely and walked away without injuries. Four in one aircraft and one in another. BRS works: good. That was about the limit of that story. However, I took a look at the Cirrus...

There is always the debate about ELT in the glider vs. hand held ELT and now 406 Mhz PLBs. I think the PLBs are great, but perhaps not everyone wants to go that far. http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&productId=47799529 One middle ground option could be a Garmin...

I will be in Peru when you guys are toasting/remembering Charlie. How i would love to raise a glass to him! I'm sorry I won't be able to make it. I would love to hear more stories about him. I loved his book and hearing him tell his story about the rowboat. He wore his integrety like a...

Hi Gang As we all know Mother Nature can be unforgiving to errors in the air. Alan Pratt who was an experienced pilot bought a Carat motor glider about 4 months ago. This single place motor glider is one of the most benign machines available. I flew the first in the US and gave it a rave...

What every club needs now - fly and meet the 'social isolation /distance' rules whilst still training your students - have several for sale - straight swap for ArcusM, Quintus, EB29, Ventus 3M or JS2/5 …...please see https://adverts.gliderpilot.net/?op=s3&id=17136 for further details. -