Shawn Curry wrote:

(and yet Zoomies are nearly ripping their wings off).

What are you inferring here?

The referenced article says nothing about aircraft structural failure
nor does it address questionable flying operations other than related
maintenance concerns.

FWIW, during my involvement with this flying program in each of the
last two decades, the maintenance of the gliders and towplanes was not
performed by military personnel but contracted out to non-military
vendors.

My assumption is that club-owned Blaniks are also not maintained by
military personnel.

So what?

I commend the Air Force Academy's actions to take the actions they
deem necessary to ensure the safety of the Cadets in their charge. To
do otherwise would be both fiscally and morally irresponsible. There
have been several past USAFA soaring accidents to include cadet
fatalities [even when the cadet(s) was flying with a qualified Air
Force Instructor Pilot(s)] which were directly attributed to poor
aircraft design, questionable maintenance procedures, and training
beyond the scope of that necessary to fulfil the objective of the
introductory nature of the soaring program at the United States Air
Force Academy (USAFA). If I may clear up a common misconception, Cadet
involvement in the USAFA soaring program is not considered a formal
part of U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Flight Training (UPT). Those
USAFA Cadets medically qualified have the opportunity to request
assignment to UPT upon graduation from that accredited academic
institution (i.e., college, not military flight school).

These are not fighter pilots flying gliders at the Air Force Academy.
These are college students--a select few of which who just may become
such after at least two years of intense formal flight training in jet
aircraft.

So, in reality, the USAFA soaring program is actually not all that
dissimilar from a club operation albeit on a much larger scale
(~10,000 sorties/year) and arguably on a more regimented and
structured degree.

Lastly, I don't quite understand the propensity of those via this
forum who given the opportunty cast dispersion upon the Academy, its
programs, or its students every time a blurb about its soaring program
makes the local news. As a taxpayer whose funds support all the
aforementioned, I (for one) would prefer that necessary precautions
are taken to protect my investment in the future leaders of our Air
Force and the country. Yes, club Blaniks will continue to be flown
all day long without ever being exposed to such a high degree of
scrutiny. However, I dare say that not every club Blanik is purchased
and maintained by taxpayer dollars, and that not every club member is
receiving a $250,000 government sponsored academic scholarship with
the potential to then receive a million-dollars worth of *formal*
flight training to, in turn, then be given the responsibility to
operate a $25 million dollar jet aircraft in the defense of our
national objectives.

So let's be respectful of the reasoning behind the positions taken by
the Academy's leadership, give 'em a break, and be thankful that you
can go fly your club ships without consideration to such a high level
of public visibilty and bureaucratic B.S.

RD