I suppose this subject must have been posted before, however, as I review the world championship daily results, it is obvious the smaller fuselage models have a distinct advantage over gliders many average to larger size pilots are obliged to fly. A smaller fuselage means each wing length is...

Modern sailplanes have evolved through the years and many older have lasted the test of time. During the 1970's Schelicher produced what I call the, "Greatest Of All Time", the ASW20. Production began around 1977 and immediately sailplane pilots were joining the ranks of owning the sleek beautiful...

US Racing Pilots 2020 Rules are now posted on the SSA website and can be found he https://www.ssa.org/ContestRules For pilots flying in FAI-class Nationals (that is all Nationals except Sports Class), please read the waiver found on the same page that describes which FAI paragraphs for...

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...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vjsws679vxr7g69/Stress-Anxiety%20Driven%20Accidents.docx?dl=0 above is a Drop box link to this article for easier reading ...

On 30 December 2017, there were 34 flights of over 1000km posted onto the OLC. These were all in Namibia and South Africa. What is the record number of +1000km flights done in a single day? I would imagine there could have been more flights done because not everyone posts their flights on OLC.

To try and get this going separate from the discussion of the ongoing World Championships,I think we can agree: Any scoring system will have an unintended consequences. Current FAI scoring system used at World and Continental Championships tends to encourage group flying (reward for striking out...

With all the posts regarding collision avoidance electronics, I was wondering about high vis markings. Seems like many of us put thousands of dollars into electronics and nothing into high vis markings. Kinda hard to believe the infinite wisdom master has not mandated it, and especially since a...

I think in Feet Per Minute... I must be from a different country. How do you convert Kts per Sec / Meters per sec / Kilometers etc... to Feet per minute Thanks

Having fun in the DuckHawk 15m sailplane By: Daniel Sazhin In early September, I had a fantastic day of flying at Blairstown Airport, the culmination of which was having the opportunity to fly Windward Performance's new DuckHawk. I had just flown the club Grob Twin Astir with my brother, promptly...

I might be wrong, but my sense is that now in this soaring season, and considering *only* quantity of gliders "substantially damaged" or worse, few semi-regular, US-based, RAS readers would not agree this U.S. season is - statistical pedantry aside - already distinctly...

Like to share my observations flying with a portable flarm with just installed updated firmware 1.20 which displays Mode C transponders. My son purchase the unit last summer for the FAI contest at Ulvalde. He was impressed with its operation. I have had 2 long flights in Florida in the last week...

I have been asked by the contest management here at Logan to stop posting my reports on the official SSA site, so henceforth these reports will be available only on SoaringCafe.com. Apparently I was using the ‘U’ (Unlandable) word a little too often for their taste. I freely admit that a lot of...

Dumb beginner question follows: I am just starting out flying gliders.... Here in the USA it seems nobody wears a parachute unless they are contest flying or doing aerobatics. However, I generally do like knowing that I have a backup plan and a parachute seems reasonable. I suppose a history...

I have read many posts about how gliders like the PW5, L33, and other similar performance gliders are not the greatest cross country gliders and that for the same money you can get older higher performance gliders. My question is, if you forget about dollars per L/D, do these type of gliders have...

NTSB Identification: LAX05LA131 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Wednesday, April 06, 2005 in Mokuleia, HI Aircraft: Schweizer SGS 2-32, registration: N693U Injuries: 1 Fatal, 2 Minor. This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this...

What is best: a round or square chute? Do they differ in time to open? Are previous experience or training jumps with a square chute mandatory? Is a static line better - if so why? (we have a packer at our club that has recommended square chutes, but apparently two training jumps are mandatory - we...

http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief2.asp?ev_id=20040402X00417&ntsbno=CH I04CA090&akey=1

My new club seems to have a culture of rig in April and derig in October! Personally I prefer to rig and derig for each flight, unless I know that there is a run of several days good weather and I'm available to fly. I have covers (Cloud-dancers) but I really don't think they offer the protection...

I'm thinking of upgrading my SDI C4 e-vario this winter in my DG-100. With limited space, I would be going for an 80mm one. I've seen some different options, like the LX S80/S100 and Era 80, but fail to see many differences. For what I do know from the cumulus-soaring.com comparison page is that...