On Friday, July 4, 2014 2:11:38 AM UTC+12, Tom Knauff wrote:
Of course you could review the hundreds of articles in different soaring / flying magazines, free newsletters, article postings on our web site, speeches and free seminars conducted at conventions, club meetings, etc, etc, etc.

Some people prefer to have the information available in a compact, easy to reference publication.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't find memorising 1000 page manuals useful, or their recall reliable in the heat of the moment.

Half a page of basic principles, and the gumption to apply them to new situations, yes. That's how I got As in math and physics exams, and that's how I fly gliders.

If you don't *understand* the situation, then your recall of some arcane bit of advice is just as likely to be that you remember something you MUST NOT DO, with the slight fault that you think it is something that you MUST DO.

You are faced with a landing in a lake. What should you do? Wheel up or down? If down, to use the brake or not? Quickly now!

If you're trying to remember an article you read ten years ago you'll probably get it wrong.