wrote on 3/11/2018 8:32 PM:
Not sure if the comment was serious or gently humorous but strength training does make a big difference. The ASW 24 I've owned for 26 years has the deep cockpit characteristic of later (safety) Schleicher designs and it's somewhat more effort to hoist myself up now. If I didn't work out at the gym several times a week or focus on maintaining my weight through diet and running, it would be a real challenge to exit gracefully, especially wearing my parachute, as I always do. OK, maybe it's not so graceful , but I can still do it at age 66. And strength training is one reason why.

Especially pushups and tricep dips on chairs - still getting out of my ASH 26 E at
75, and still doing it without removing the parachute, as I want to be strong
enough to bail out. Maintaining a good weight, diet, and other exercise is good,
too, and makes those long flights safer and more enjoyable.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf