A sailplane's Flight Manual usually requires a magnetic compass (or an aviation compass)as minimum equipment. Well, panel space has become less available and you are seeing fewer sailplanes with panel or glare-shield mounted 2.25 Airpath C2xxx or PAI-700 aircraft specific compasses. Anyone have a...

I owned a flew a Speed Astir for many years. It was my first glass ship after gaining about 40 hours in rental glass ships. The Speed is a natural transition from the Grob 103 to the Grob 102 and then the Speed Astir (Grob G104). I got more compliments on how good it looked than anyone. I had...

Darryl, Ramy, Williams, et al After installing a squat switch (such as the Peregrine brand), did your plumbing pass a pitot/static leak test? I have heard gossip of the Peregrine switch having pitot/static leak issues. Is there another approved squat switch known not to leak?

I have a 16mm home movie showing a test flight of the Bumble Bee at Rosamond Dry Lake in 1945. I need help with 2 things: 1) I would imagine that Bowlus and Nelson are part of this movie but I can't find a photograph of either of these guys so that I can ID them. Does anyone know where there is a...

Hi, I have been flying with Serengetti sunglasses for many years in a sailplane with a clear canopy. I bought a LS6 with a light blue tinted canopy which make my cockpit to dark when in the shade of cloud. Suggestion are welcome to solve this problem. Regards, S6

Our club has a K8 with extremely uncomfortable seating arraignments. Basically we are using a combination of foam pieces and misc cushions to try to make the glider usable. After about 2 hours, it is pure torture. The basic glider has a metal seat pan that covers the landing wheel. The seat...

In the latest edition of Soaring magazine there is an article about TLAR. For those not familiar with TLAR, it is a landing approach teaching method that is based on angles as opposed to elevations and distances. Using angles automatically compensates for variations in altitude. On downwind , if...

(per FAA Flight Advisory) You might want to factor this in to your badge or record attempts as the GPS trace may be unusable or have holes in it. This would be especially true at higher elevations like wave flights. The effected area is huge, covering most of Nevada and southern California. For...

What is the maximum altitude (about) when the mobile phone becomes useless? PeterK

Thinking about new trailer and would like to know pros and cons from Avionic owners. Since Avionic is about 40% cheaper than Cobra right now it looks like good deal.... Also if anyone owned Cobra and Avionic and can compare both models. Thank you Pavel

All, I've place my ASW20b on the market, some of you in the states know it's Id (21) and know it's a fine ship. If interested please see the ad on W&W at: http://www.wingsandwheels.com/wantads3.htm Respectfully, Rick Culbertson Colorado, USA

I promised Bill Daniels that I'd burn him a DVD of some of my winch videos and the result is pretty horrible quality which is a result of two things. A. I'm using Pinnacle Studio 8 and it's given me some problems and I'm more than a bit peeved that in less than 6 months I am foced to buy Version...

There is an interesting discussion here at http://www.postfrontal.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5589&whichpage=6 with a lot of pictures I have taken out of new PNAs with 800-900 nits displays. This PNA has also a spare RS232. I am searching for a Dell Streak to compare, but it is was gone out...

Hey all - I just acquired an original Oudie and I have noticed a gear warning in the profile setup. Not mentioned in the manual and the previous 2 owners do not know about it. I have not noticed it trying to get my attention in the pattern either. I will ask Naviter next unless youze can fill me in.

I have a Bendix A-8A regulator that I took out of our glider. Is there a shop around that still overhauls this regulator, or has it become a museum piece?

I'm not alarmist to say that the FAA is going to ground 80% of the senescent USA glider training fleet sometime soon. The only question is when. The L-13s are being recycled. The few people who know how to properly inspect and keep the 27 wooden Schleichers KA-* gliders flying safely are...

Hello, Can anybody give me some polar curve data of the Discus at very high speeds? (i.e. at Vne and/or beyond). Many thanks in advance! Karl

I am a big believer in having some form of survival kit in my glider. Even in the "wilds" of the midwest I can get stuck outside for a while before being "rescued". I am always on the lookout for items to add to my kit which I have built up over time. Whistles, fire starters, signal mirrors,...

The Sparrowhawk is the worlds most fun to fly sailplane available hands down. Jim Payne just set 8 new USA National records in a Sparrowhawk in 2009. WOW!!! No other standard sailplane comes close to it's maneuverability and agility due to it's low weight and low moment of inertia due to the...

I have just posted up to Al's Gliderforum a german language copy of an overhaul manual for the Solo 2350 2-stroke engine as used in all of Schempp-Hirth's sustainer models, as well as the Ventus CM and the new LS-8t sustainer model. This document is quite complete with a good number of color photos...