OK Anyone out there with experience in converting the T59D / 401 Kestrel canopy from the awful removable thing with a hoop exactly where you want to watch the tug, to a single piece. Apparently there is an approved mod using a DG200 canopy. Second question is - would there be anyone with such...

I have been working on the horizontal stab and the two elevators for the past two weeks. I have never seen such difficult gel coat to remove. I am no rookie at gel coat, have done many boats and a bit of glider repair, but this is a beast to remove. It took me six full days to remove the gel coat...

Kawa in 1st. Two JS-1s, then a V2, then a V3. All within 5 seconds, identical avg speed for all four!!!

Anyone have more details about it? In particular, was the glider equipped with transponder? This is not good rep for us, but could have been worse....

If you are interested in checking out the new Stemme S12, it will be on-site at Crosswinds Aviation in Howell Michigan this Saturday afternoon at 4 pm.. We will have the BBQ going, hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings. Yes, beer! Crosswinds Aviation is an incredible aviation facility as well...

I have been trying to understand just how a TE probe functions. Is a TE probe plumbed as the only static source for a variometer or is it plumbed together with the static ports that are usually placed on the sides of a glider? Thank you.

As a still under 40, very active standard class pilot with an LS8 and a Duckhawk on order, and who has flown a few regionals and one nationals (Montague 2012), I'll chime in with a few observations about why I haven't been very motivated to fly any US-based competitions this year. (1) Time...

Hi All, As a recently licensed pilot I decided it would be a good idea to learn more about soaring weather prediction, specifically the workings of a Skew-t graph. I combined that with learning more about developing Apps for Android, so yesterday I published by first Android...

I flew the Sports Class Nats with Powerflarm Brick (v 3.0), Butterfly 57mm display (v 3.1). My experience last season was that flarm was a bit of a nuisance: in large gaggles the darned thing made more noise than my audio vario. As well, I found the "radar" tracking feature a useless...

I'm planning on trying turbulator tape (zig-zag, probably) on the horizontal tail of my Ls-6, in front of the elevator. Anyone have any experience doing this? I added .4 mm ziz-zag to to the elevator of my LS-7 and it changed the stall dramatically. Before adding it, the ship stalled like an...

I would like to solicit comments on the question: Compared to a standard tail configuration such as a 2-33 or Blanik L-13, does the initiation and recovery from a spin vary substantially in T-tail (ASK-21 type), all-flying (Phoebus) or V-tail (HP series) sailplanes? Really look forward to reading...

I have to refurbish/replace my wing wheel assembly and need some suggestions/insights. The current one is the typical aluminum wing cuff and bicycle wheel. It wasn't well made to start with and it's falling apart. I want to take this opportunity to improve the thing. One of the biggest issues I...

Has anyone thought about applications for the iPhone 3G platform in a glider? It has an excellent sunlight readable screen with touch interface that causes no loss of image quality. It has an accelerometer built in, a GPS that is probably better than spot, wireless for speech commands, remote...

Hi All, This is a bit of a loaded question (I think both sellers are contributors to RAS) - but I'd like to get as much feedback as possible from as wide of an audience as possible... I've been agonizing (here and elsewhere) between the niceties of a DG-300 and the flapped flexibilities of an...

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

FAR 91.119 Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft................................. ..... (c)... closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle or structure. In light of the above regulation, would someone please tell me how our 50 foot finish line is...

Any opinions? I plan to install a new Becker transponder in my ASW-28. Should I go with the old mode C unit or pay extra for the new mode S unit? Thanks.

Hi all, I decided to take the plunge (no pun intended) and start flying. I thought about going straight for a private glider license. But, I do have the option of going for the powered pilot license first - then the glider license second. Any thoughts? How many here have both? Did you get your...

Damn and I just paid out for a copy! Now I guess it'll be a 'feature fight'. How about all you software and hardware vendors get together and agree on an interoperability standard so that us poor pilots can build systems with fully interchangeable components - Loggers - varios - PDA's etc ( that...