On Sunday, July 5, 2020 at 1:30:12 PM UTC-4, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
On Friday, July 3, 2020 at 5:17:10 PM UTC-7, Steve Bralla wrote:
On Friday, July 3, 2020 at 3:15:04 PM UTC-7, Bob Youngblood wrote:
On Friday, July 3, 2020 at 12:25:27 PM UTC-4, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Let me give you two cautionaire tales. We used to have a great rec.aviation.helicopter newsgroup. The chief Sikorsky test pilot Nick Lappos was a member. In short order just two posters ran everyone away from the newsroup by posting crap that had nothing to do with helicopters,. Fifteen years later, this newsgroup is still not viable. As for guns in gliders for protection, not one committed or had a question when I posted that I was probably the only member that had an emergency landing in the back country and had an encounter with a wild animal capable of eating me. That leads me to believe this is not a serious question. Full disclosure, I did grow up in Idaho, gun country, and I used to shoot competitively. I also, early in life was a paid mountain guide. My professional opinion for the lower 48 that a gun anywhere in your glider is more of a danger than any animal you might encounter. When I had an E landing in the back country at sunset my biggest problem was only having flashlights that could produce, red, green or blue light. I did get stalked by a mountain lion for over 100 yards, he/she parallel my path 15 yards away. But being an avid outdoorsman, it had my attention but not too worried. I have encountered bears and mountain lions many times without ever picking a fight. This is not meant as any disrespect to anyone, but I believe if you are seriously considering carry a gun in a glider, that is more about self fears and doubts, not about a real danger. Best regards to all and happy 4th.

Jonathan, you are a legend in your own mind. Just this week I was at a local ranch of a friend it is about 9K acres and has a beautiful landing strip that runs along a canal. The owner and I took a quick ride down the strip and he pointed out a large dead animal in the canal. I immediately was puzzled and asked what the heck is that? His reply was very short and to the point, he said that is my two thousand pound bull that Charlie killed. Charlie happened to be the largest alligator that I have ever seen, must have been over 17 feet long and about 1k or more in weight. As we approached the dead and rotting animal the owner informed me to stay in the truck, these lizards can can run faster than a horse for 50 yards and will attack and drag their prey into the canal waiting for it to rot and later eat for a wonderful snack.
I have landed on that strip a couple of times and I can assure you that I will be packing to protect myself from such encounters. Now you may not have that kind of animal in California, but please protect yourself from all those crazies out there. Bob

Bob,
when started this it was
"today my son brought me a great gift to fight off the flaming liberals at the gliderport. It is a Bulgarian AK47 with 2000 rounds of ammunition." I guess you can skip the lizard protection BS.
Steve
No gun for me but a fire extinguisher in case I land out in a brush fire and a inflatable raft in case I land in the water.

Imagine what a laugh the Australian pilots are getting out of this shameful public discourse of manufactured fears, and rationalization. Come to think of it, I will start caring a weapon incase a dingo comes to steal the child I never had, but I might someday in the future. No dingos here, well "people say" that there might be a colony establishing themselves with the help of animal rights activists. Better arm yourself. "They say" accidental discharges never happen either, so be more afraid of the Boggy monster than the real monster. Can we get back to gliding. I would still like a real discussion or course in wing loading vs span loading. Does a Discus at 7.0 pound equate to a Nimbus 4 at 7.0 pounds or does the Nimbus have an effectively lower wing loading? Aviators with the desire to learn more about aviation would like to know. Anything else about gliding? Would someone like to talk about "wind dividers and collectors in Mountain and ridge soaring........ So many topics that are useful to all pilots. Stay safe, and try not to shoot your balls off when reaching for your water bottle, or tightening your straps.

Jonathan, the Aussie's are drowning themselves in their own tears because they cannot get a weapon, only the criminals can get guns! It is not the dingo that we worry about here it is the Antifa. Yes, the Antifa, the male is a frail little animal that comes out out night and creates violence to the public. The female is usually twice as large as the male and has purple or orange hair. They are not employed, live off their parents and contribute nothing to society.
They are not glider pilots, only burn , pilfer, and destroy national monuments, and yes, they have parties to spread COVID so they can develop heard immunity.
Weather here has been dismal, I only made a few tows the last couple of days. I am in the market for a 18 meter ship, if you know of anything please let me know.