My first BFR is coming up soon. That gives you an idea of how long I've been flying. At this point, I figure Gold Distance and Duration are quite doable on a "good" day. Those badges will be challenging, but within reach. The altitude gain is not impossible, but unlikely where I fly. The biggest...

I'm an averagely useless XC pilot living in a visitor intensive place and get asked to do Lead n Follow flights with some regularity. I've tried, on quite a few occasions and short of herding cats, I can't think of anything less likely to succeed. The main issue is, keeping track of where...

I have a Cambridge GPS-NAV. I am trying to download a flight log. It looks like the Aero Explorer software is reading it from the GPS-NAV ok, but then a dialog box pops up with an error msg "Error writing flight log to disk." I was able to download logs earlier this year, but was running on a...

The FAA is sticking to its guns in holding that a rated power pilot who is out of currency in his power rating cannot solo in a glider when the transition pilot is not current (no current flight review) in his other rating. The most recent legal opinion is dated today, April 27, and addressed to...

Are there significant differences between these batteries? Why is there a 50% difference in their cost? I've noticed that some brands have more restrictive low temperature limits - not good for those cold wave flights! Chris

This is funny, but it gives a good idea of the Google Glass point of view. http://mashable.com/2013/05/25/google-glass-photographer/ Will we all want to be wearing these in the cockpit three years from now? Not shown is the ability to interact through voice commands and receive information via...

Hey group! We are very excited to announce that a Sunlight readable Oudie will become available shortly (mid April) and maybe even more significantly that we went into considerable trouble and will be be able to upgrade your old Oudie too! Full news announcement is...

Since satellite cover has been withdrawn for 121.5 (High false alert rate, poor localization) 406.0 and 406.1 ELTs will be needed, following a recent FCC determination. Brian W

If you are an experienced contest pilot or just considering entering your first contest check out the SSA website contest results and photos (http://www.ssa.org/members/contestreports/contestresults.asp) of this year's event at Air Sailing. This year we experienced soaring conditions with speeds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYDdEjloYJ0 Sports Class Nationals people - was this landing as frightening in person as it is on tape? what was the wind doing then? looks like a wild ride

I have noticed over the years that this glider sells for what seems to be a very low price given that it is a near 50:1 glider. But I notice lately that there are also some for sale on Wings & Wheels with relatively low total time: 320 hours $21k 260 hours $20k 200 hours $15k Other than the...

While towing for Hollister, I noticed their instructor really liked to practice slack line. So for my flight review in Avenal yesterday, we did a bunch of slack line corrections. We did them during one tow, but broke the rope. 150' of rope ($12), two schweizer rings ($20), one tost ring ($35), a...

I was reviewing some contest flights from 2008 and it occurred to me that there hadn't been a thorough review of people's experience with the new "start anywhere" rule - which measures distance on the first leg from a start from anywhere along the boundries of the start cylinder. I general I...

The rules say that an aircraft towing or re-fueling has the right-of- way over all other powered aircraft. Please point out to critics of glider operations that every pilot is taught this rule before flying solo and that this rule is on the written test he or she must take before getting a license.

On another topic, bagmaker wrote: Mr Daniels is right on the money, youngsters now have a new phone every 2 years, a new car every 3 years, a mortgage no-one can really afford, 3 ipods, a PDA, $250 sunglasses and a wardrobe of jeans the cost of which would support a small african...

My take on self-launchers launchers … is really pretty simple. A self launcher means you can launch whether there’s a tow plane or not. Period. For me, that would mean I could launch from Jean, land somewhere, make camp (I love ‘ramp camping’), and launch the next day and fly back (conditions,...

Hello XCSoar users. I love my XCSoar/Streak combo in my glider and I installed a second Streak in the Pipistrel Sinus. In the Sinus there is no computer/GPS to feed the Streak and so the XCSoar relies on the internal GPS of the Streak. With the solo setup, I never see winds. I've flown...

Greetings, I typically suffer from motion sickness early in the season and sometimes on longer flights if the thermals are rough. I have one of the electronic wrist devices. It's of some benefit, but it's not an instant cure, at least for me. Just curious if there are any new meds or other...

I just read in the October Soaring that the FAA will issue a NPRM in response to a petition from many organizations, including the SSA. The petition asks the repack cycle be changed from 120 days to 180 days, a worthwhile improvement, I think. To view the petition and the FAA's response, go...

I pulled my Cobra up the Sierras to Sparks, Nv and then blew the right tire (6� of tread separated and took the fender off too). Tire and wheel were Not even warm. Put on the spare and drove the final 20 miles. Next morning I jacked up one wheel and took 2 tires and rims in and got 6 ply trailer...