Could I impose upon those of you more experience soaring types and ask your opinion of the Standard Cirrus? Pros? Cons? Indifferences? I am looking for my first ship. Walt

USAF Request For Proposal: FA8617-10-R-6210 They need approximately 20 new gliders, several trailers, support equipment, spares and contract maintenance, for delivery at Colorado Springs, CO (USA) in the next two years.

I wrote a new article on how to use computers to help judge glides. http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/soaring/docs/safety_glides.pdf or the first item here http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/soaring/index.htm#maccready This will probably end up in Soaring sooner or later,...

New to gliding (won't say "soaring" since I haven't been accused of doing much of that) and was interested in buying a forgiving starter glider. I've flown the 1-26 extensively but would like a bit more performance--feel like I'm stuck at the field. I've seen the 201 on Wings and Wheels. I've read...

Since I have been unable to get access to the XCSoar forum thus far, I thought I'd go ahead and post my questions here. I just got a used Dell Streak 5 that was previously an AT&T one. It appears it is Android 1.6 and seems to be functioning fine. I attempted to install XCSoar using wifi. I first...

Catch up on day 6, 8, and 9 http://www.ssa.org/UsTeam/ust_reports_sr.htm

Earlier in the year I had a close call, the Flarm was going off with multiple targets most of which I could visually identify. One I did not see, we both had to turn sharply left to avoid a straight on collision. Apparently Flarm calculates the potential collision taking into account all...

Yeah, its early but we have a new site for this year's Region 3 Contest. If you plan on attending, please sign -up early in order for our organization to make arrangements. There has also been inquires to hold world class for the PW-5's. (If we are able to have (3) register we will hold a world...

I've been persuaded to give an OSTIV talk about motorglider safety issues, in particular propulsion system failures. I'm going to discuss common failures, the systemic reasons this stuff has happened and WILL CONTINUE to happen, and some ideas for systemic improvements. I'm looking for pictures...

Is there a general consensus on which schools are regarded as the "best" for glider training? I realize this is difficult to compare, as there are lots of good instructors all over the place, but if someone were interested in taking a block of time off and going somewhere to learn how to fly...

The Colibri II GNSS Flight Recorder manufactured LX Navigation (www.lxnavigation.si) has gained IGC-approval with effect from 20 November 2011 for "all flights". For IGC-approval levels, see para 1.1.4 of Annex B to the Sporting Code for gliding. This brings the number of IGC-approved Flight...

I've browsed the old discussions on gelcoat maintenance to learn what I can before developing a maintenance routine of my own, for my recently acquired V2C. One thing not yet clear to me is the best way to use/apply 3M's Finesse-It II, which seems to be the consensus cleaner/polisher compound: With...

Bill Gawthrop who won the U.S. Open Nationals at Montague on July 3rd, is doing well after the crash of his beautiful JS-1c Jet at Truckee, CA. I have not talked directly with Bill, only his wife Dianne. The circumstances of the crash remain unclear, but seem to be unrelated to any mechanical...

Anyone familiar with See You Competition for scoring. http://www.naviter.si/products/seeyou-competition.php?Itemid=63 8 pages ! I am setting it up for Narromine Cup Week unless there is another system you recommend. The system currently holds all popular glider pilot software downloads and user...

All, My radio (Dittel FSG 71) Squelch seems to be a bit sensitive (but by design, cannot be adjusted by the pilot). In my case, when flying, the squelch is a bit sensitive and the “white noise” of the radio comes on at times, even when there are no communications received. I can always reset the...

Sailplane designers, Modern wind turbine blades are strikingly similar to glider wings. They are now now coming out in sizes approaching 50 meters. The market expansion for wind energy is expected to grow rapidly. The ensuing economies of scale from mass produced wind turbine blades just...

I am making this posting in the hope of saving someone from going through what I have been going through and to ensure that it gets the coverage it deserves amongst the gliding community. It revolves around a business transaction between myself and Ales Cebavs, the managing director of AMS-Flight...

I am wondering how many others suffer from a mental disorder such as Bipolar or Schizoaffective disorder seek out soaring because of it's lack of medical certification requirements. Also, I am wondering what options there are to taking medications which state, 'to avoid heatstroke it is important...

After some back and forth discussion, it seems pylon-mounted wings could have a lot of potential for sailplanes. WRT aerodynamics, they make a laminar upper wing and much more extensive laminar flow on the fuselage possible. Structurally, notably yaw forces might be problematic (ground-loop), but...

Does anybody know the text book answer to the "Procedure for Lost Radio Communication" between the glider and ground crew during a cross country flight? What answer would you give if asked during a checkride? Thanks