End of Season Sunset Warning for SSA-OLC Participants

I can think of one way to make a glider more visible with an intensity
equal to the sun and draws absolutley NO POWER and requires NO WIRING

Check this out!

http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP...LH/N14LH_2.jpg

In truth the power it requires is in the buffing, but the results are
incredible.

The polish to get this is called Nuvite and costs a lot but with
outstanding results http://www.perfectpolish.com/

Who knew you could polish aluminum to the point of looking like chrome?

Circling flight would make this glider look like a flashing beacon in
the sky.

I have bare wings on my HP-11 and plan on polishing the wings up with
Nuvite for that extra visibility since my flying area is right in the
middle of a victor airway.

Ray

What kind of glider is that?

Mike Schumann

"jb92563" wrote in message
oups.com...
I can think of one way to make a glider more visible with an intensity
equal to the sun and draws absolutley NO POWER and requires NO WIRING

Check this out!

http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP...LH/N14LH_2.jpg

In truth the power it requires is in the buffing, but the results are
incredible.

The polish to get this is called Nuvite and costs a lot but with
outstanding results http://www.perfectpolish.com/

Who knew you could polish aluminum to the point of looking like chrome?

Circling flight would make this glider look like a flashing beacon in
the sky.

I have bare wings on my HP-11 and plan on polishing the wings up with
Nuvite for that extra visibility since my flying area is right in the
middle of a victor airway.

Ray

Mike,

It is a Schreder HP-14 kit built sailplane designed in 1966. Dick Schreder
won the US Nationals with serial number 1 in 1967.
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-14/N4736G.htm

Wayne
HP-14 N990 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/N990_Borah_Mt.JPG
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder



"Mike Schumann" wrote in message
ink.net...
What kind of glider is that?

Mike Schumann

"jb92563" wrote in message
oups.com...
I can think of one way to make a glider more visible with an intensity
equal to the sun and draws absolutley NO POWER and requires NO WIRING

Check this out!

http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP...LH/N14LH_2.jpg

In truth the power it requires is in the buffing, but the results are
incredible.

The polish to get this is called Nuvite and costs a lot but with
outstanding results http://www.perfectpolish.com/

Doug,

May I make some suggestions? (1) Do not change OLC rules mid-season. (2) If
you insist on checking all traces for certain violations, do it at the time
of claim -- automatically -- and reject those that do not pass, there and
then.

Going back through the season and arbitrarily hand-picking "bad" flights
seems like huge waste of time -- yours and everybody else's.

More generally, I can't help but notice that OLC has become a much worse
place since SSA got involved. It started with a huge ugly STATIONARY banner
on top of SSA-OLC page that serves no good purpose but to generate
advertisement income for SSA at the expense of users' screen space. I
checked other national OLCs, and the ONLY three out of 29 that do this
tasteless disservice to their users are AT, FR and US.

Now this policing of the traces. OLC used to be an extremely valuable tool
for sharing and learning. I used to rave about it and promote it to all my
soaring friends. Still, I estimate that only about one-third of the pilots I
know post their flights. Which is a pity, because those who do NOT post tend
to be the more experienced and wiser pilots. See any connection?

You can count the "stages" in the "process", but I do not see how you can
count on the last one being acceptance. Many did not accept OLC to begin
with and still fewer will if the current trends with SSA-OLC continue. The
rate of participation will be further diminishing, as will be the value of
the OLC to the rest of us. Pity.

Once again, U.S.A. shows the way.

Thank you.
--
Yuliy Gerchikov


"Doug Haluza" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is cross posted from the SSA Home News & Information General
News:

As the days get shorter as the end of the soaring season nears, the
SSA-OLC Committee has been receiving complaints about flights after
sunset without required aircraft lighting. Although the requirements
for night flight begin at twilight for pilots in the US, the
requirements for aircraft lighting begin at sunset. Gliders without
approved lighting must land, and move clear of lighted runways and
taxiways before sunset.

IGC flight logs contain a GPS time stamp which is the most exact time
standard readily available. So, violations of this requirement are
quite plain to see in these logs. The SSA Board was concerned about
flight logs with obvious violations damaging the sport if they were
posted in the public record of the OLC. So the board adopted a policy
disqualifying such flights from the OLC, as well as FAI awards such as
badges and records. See:

http://www.ssa.org/download/SSA%20Po...Violations.pdf

The SSA-OLC Committee prefers that pilots voluntarily remove the
flights, rather than having them removed by an admin. We have contacted
a number of pilots to request this, and they are currently in various
stages of the 5-step grieving process (denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance). You can avoid this emotional roller
coaster by planning and executing your flights to be complete before
sunset, unless you have approved night lighting.

You can't just duct tape a flashlight to the nose for night flight. The
requirements for navigation lights are very specific to color,
intensity and direction. If your aircraft is equipped with approved
night lighting, and it was used for flight after sunset, you must put a
note in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining this.

We also have been advised of flight claims that show altitudes in the
log well above the 18,000' MSL limit for Class-A airspace in the US.
The IGC logger altitude is subject to a number of errors, which could
total to several hundred feet. We are currently reviewing with the
pilots a number of flights that appear to exceed even a reasonable
error budget.

Note that unless your flight reference altimeter has been properly
calibrated for IFR flight, and is set to a current ATC altimeter
setting, you will need to allow an extra buffer below 18,000' MSL
indicated altitude to account for possible errors. If you have an
encounter with an IFR aircraft with calibrated altitude references, the
calibrated references and ATC logs will be used to determine your
actual altitude in any subsequent investigation.

Again, if your flight log shows flight above 18,000 MSL, after
correcting for field elevation at takeoff, you will need to provide an
explanation in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining
this. The same requirement applies to entering special use airspace.
This will immediately answer any questions that may concern other
competitors, or anyone else reviewing your flight log in the future.

Finally, if you note a flight that appears to be questionable, do not
speculate in public forums (like news://rec.avation.soaring). Contact
the pilot privately if you can. If the flight is in the US, contact the
SSA-OLC Committee by email at olcatssadotorg. Or use the complaint
tab on the OLC Web header to initiate a partner check.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin

Are you saying that 2/3 of the pilots you know are afraid to post
flights because they regularly bust FARs? Please tell me where you
fly?

At my home field, probably 3/4 of the pilots post their flights,
including the very best pilots.




Yuliy Gerchikov wrote:
Doug,

May I make some suggestions? (1) Do not change OLC rules mid-season. (2) If
you insist on checking all traces for certain violations, do it at the time
of claim -- automatically -- and reject those that do not pass, there and
then.

Going back through the season and arbitrarily hand-picking "bad" flights
seems like huge waste of time -- yours and everybody else's.

More generally, I can't help but notice that OLC has become a much worse
place since SSA got involved. It started with a huge ugly STATIONARY banner
on top of SSA-OLC page that serves no good purpose but to generate
advertisement income for SSA at the expense of users' screen space. I
checked other national OLCs, and the ONLY three out of 29 that do this
tasteless disservice to their users are AT, FR and US.

Now this policing of the traces. OLC used to be an extremely valuable tool
for sharing and learning. I used to rave about it and promote it to all my
soaring friends. Still, I estimate that only about one-third of the pilots I
know post their flights. Which is a pity, because those who do NOT post tend
to be the more experienced and wiser pilots. See any connection?

You can count the "stages" in the "process", but I do not see how you can
count on the last one being acceptance. Many did not accept OLC to begin
with and still fewer will if the current trends with SSA-OLC continue. The
rate of participation will be further diminishing, as will be the value of
the OLC to the rest of us. Pity.

Once again, U.S.A. shows the way.

Thank you.
--
Yuliy Gerchikov


"Doug Haluza" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is cross posted from the SSA Home News & Information General
News:

As the days get shorter as the end of the soaring season nears, the
SSA-OLC Committee has been receiving complaints about flights after
sunset without required aircraft lighting. Although the requirements
for night flight begin at twilight for pilots in the US, the
requirements for aircraft lighting begin at sunset. Gliders without
approved lighting must land, and move clear of lighted runways and
taxiways before sunset.

IGC flight logs contain a GPS time stamp which is the most exact time
standard readily available. So, violations of this requirement are
quite plain to see in these logs. The SSA Board was concerned about
flight logs with obvious violations damaging the sport if they were
posted in the public record of the OLC. So the board adopted a policy
disqualifying such flights from the OLC, as well as FAI awards such as
badges and records. See:

http://www.ssa.org/download/SSA%20Po...Violations.pdf

The SSA-OLC Committee prefers that pilots voluntarily remove the
flights, rather than having them removed by an admin. We have contacted
a number of pilots to request this, and they are currently in various
stages of the 5-step grieving process (denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance). You can avoid this emotional roller
coaster by planning and executing your flights to be complete before
sunset, unless you have approved night lighting.

You can't just duct tape a flashlight to the nose for night flight. The
requirements for navigation lights are very specific to color,
intensity and direction. If your aircraft is equipped with approved
night lighting, and it was used for flight after sunset, you must put a
note in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining this.

We also have been advised of flight claims that show altitudes in the
log well above the 18,000' MSL limit for Class-A airspace in the US.
The IGC logger altitude is subject to a number of errors, which could
total to several hundred feet. We are currently reviewing with the
pilots a number of flights that appear to exceed even a reasonable
error budget.

Note that unless your flight reference altimeter has been properly
calibrated for IFR flight, and is set to a current ATC altimeter
setting, you will need to allow an extra buffer below 18,000' MSL
indicated altitude to account for possible errors. If you have an
encounter with an IFR aircraft with calibrated altitude references, the
calibrated references and ATC logs will be used to determine your
actual altitude in any subsequent investigation.

Again, if your flight log shows flight above 18,000 MSL, after
correcting for field elevation at takeoff, you will need to provide an
explanation in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining
this. The same requirement applies to entering special use airspace.
This will immediately answer any questions that may concern other
competitors, or anyone else reviewing your flight log in the future.

Finally, if you note a flight that appears to be questionable, do not
speculate in public forums (like news://rec.avation.soaring). Contact
the pilot privately if you can. If the flight is in the US, contact the
SSA-OLC Committee by email at olcatssadotorg. Or use the complaint
tab on the OLC Web header to initiate a partner check.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin

Yuliy Gerchikov wrote:

More generally, I can't help but notice that OLC has become a much worse
place since SSA got involved. It started with a huge ugly STATIONARY banner
on top of SSA-OLC page that serves no good purpose but to generate
advertisement income for SSA at the expense of users' screen space.

Maybe it depends on your screen size: I didn't even notice it was
stationary and I don't think it's ugly. No problem here (19" monitor).


Now this policing of the traces. OLC used to be an extremely valuable tool
for sharing and learning. I used to rave about it and promote it to all my
soaring friends. Still, I estimate that only about one-third of the pilots I
know post their flights. Which is a pity, because those who do NOT post tend
to be the more experienced and wiser pilots. See any connection?

No, I don't. This SSA "policing problem" you mention didn't exist until
recently, so that couldn't be the reason those pilots didn't post. And,
it doesn't seem to be the case in Region 8 (experienced and wiser pilots
not posting): our most prolific posters are also our most experienced
pilots, though a few good pilots don't post their flights.

You can count the "stages" in the "process", but I do not see how you can
count on the last one being acceptance. Many did not accept OLC to begin
with and still fewer will if the current trends with SSA-OLC continue. The
rate of participation will be further diminishing, as will be the value of
the OLC to the rest of us. Pity.

If the people posting flights that appear to have illegal operations in
them decide to stop posting to the OLC, is that bad? Most of the flights
posted don't exceed 18,000', don't enter restricted airspace, and don't
fly after sunset, so maybe these restrictions won't deter most pilots.

Personally, I find participating in the OLC makes me a little more
cautious close to 18,000', a little more diligent near restricted
airspace, and bit more conservative when I get low. And that's not a bad
thing.

--
Note: email address new as of 9/4/2006
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

Eric,

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
news:PdLLg.10359$YZ3.6807@trnddc03...
Yuliy Gerchikov wrote:

those who do NOT post tend to be the more experienced and wiser pilots.
See any connection?

No, I don't. This SSA "policing problem" you mention didn't exist until
recently, so that couldn't be the reason those pilots didn't post.

Wise pilots see the problems that exist, wiser pilots see the problems that
are coming.

Most of the flights posted don't exceed 18,000', don't enter restricted
airspace, and don't fly after sunset, so maybe these restrictions won't
deter most pilots.

See, here is an example of the problem that is coming. Yesterday it was
18,000. Today it is flying after sunset. What's tomorrow? How do we know if
tomorrow somebody won't start arbitrarily pulling some flights from OLC for
low passes or for ridge soaring, citing FAR Part 91 Sec. 91.119(c)? What's
next? Cloud clearance? Non-standard landing patterns?...

Some people just feel that they don't need to subject themselves to this
level of scrutiny -- and in today's world with today's attitudes I don't
blame them.
--
Yuliy

Good points, Yuliy.
To avoid the SSA frame, you can use the following url:
http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp...olc-usa&spr=en
May I add that a better use of the SSA banner would have been to
provide a Rules link which clearly state the rules, instead of hiding
it under "About" which most people never care to check. Instead, the
only "rules" link available is the international one which says nothing
about these sunset limitations, which many pilots were not aware of.
Also, the content of the rules section hidden under the "About" link
keep changing during the season, and worse, are reinforced
retroactively.

Ramy

Yuliy Gerchikov wrote:
Doug,

May I make some suggestions? (1) Do not change OLC rules mid-season. (2) If
you insist on checking all traces for certain violations, do it at the time
of claim -- automatically -- and reject those that do not pass, there and
then.

Going back through the season and arbitrarily hand-picking "bad" flights
seems like huge waste of time -- yours and everybody else's.

More generally, I can't help but notice that OLC has become a much worse
place since SSA got involved. It started with a huge ugly STATIONARY banner
on top of SSA-OLC page that serves no good purpose but to generate
advertisement income for SSA at the expense of users' screen space. I
checked other national OLCs, and the ONLY three out of 29 that do this
tasteless disservice to their users are AT, FR and US.

Now this policing of the traces. OLC used to be an extremely valuable tool
for sharing and learning. I used to rave about it and promote it to all my
soaring friends. Still, I estimate that only about one-third of the pilots I
know post their flights. Which is a pity, because those who do NOT post tend
to be the more experienced and wiser pilots. See any connection?

You can count the "stages" in the "process", but I do not see how you can
count on the last one being acceptance. Many did not accept OLC to begin
with and still fewer will if the current trends with SSA-OLC continue. The
rate of participation will be further diminishing, as will be the value of
the OLC to the rest of us. Pity.

Once again, U.S.A. shows the way.

Thank you.
--
Yuliy Gerchikov


"Doug Haluza" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is cross posted from the SSA Home News & Information General
News:

As the days get shorter as the end of the soaring season nears, the
SSA-OLC Committee has been receiving complaints about flights after
sunset without required aircraft lighting. Although the requirements
for night flight begin at twilight for pilots in the US, the
requirements for aircraft lighting begin at sunset. Gliders without
approved lighting must land, and move clear of lighted runways and
taxiways before sunset.

IGC flight logs contain a GPS time stamp which is the most exact time
standard readily available. So, violations of this requirement are
quite plain to see in these logs. The SSA Board was concerned about
flight logs with obvious violations damaging the sport if they were
posted in the public record of the OLC. So the board adopted a policy
disqualifying such flights from the OLC, as well as FAI awards such as
badges and records. See:

http://www.ssa.org/download/SSA%20Po...Violations.pdf

The SSA-OLC Committee prefers that pilots voluntarily remove the
flights, rather than having them removed by an admin. We have contacted
a number of pilots to request this, and they are currently in various
stages of the 5-step grieving process (denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance). You can avoid this emotional roller
coaster by planning and executing your flights to be complete before
sunset, unless you have approved night lighting.

You can't just duct tape a flashlight to the nose for night flight. The
requirements for navigation lights are very specific to color,
intensity and direction. If your aircraft is equipped with approved
night lighting, and it was used for flight after sunset, you must put a
note in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining this.

We also have been advised of flight claims that show altitudes in the
log well above the 18,000' MSL limit for Class-A airspace in the US.
The IGC logger altitude is subject to a number of errors, which could
total to several hundred feet. We are currently reviewing with the
pilots a number of flights that appear to exceed even a reasonable
error budget.

Note that unless your flight reference altimeter has been properly
calibrated for IFR flight, and is set to a current ATC altimeter
setting, you will need to allow an extra buffer below 18,000' MSL
indicated altitude to account for possible errors. If you have an
encounter with an IFR aircraft with calibrated altitude references, the
calibrated references and ATC logs will be used to determine your
actual altitude in any subsequent investigation.

Again, if your flight log shows flight above 18,000 MSL, after
correcting for field elevation at takeoff, you will need to provide an
explanation in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining
this. The same requirement applies to entering special use airspace.
This will immediately answer any questions that may concern other
competitors, or anyone else reviewing your flight log in the future.

Finally, if you note a flight that appears to be questionable, do not
speculate in public forums (like news://rec.avation.soaring). Contact
the pilot privately if you can. If the flight is in the US, contact the
SSA-OLC Committee by email at olcatssadotorg. Or use the complaint
tab on the OLC Web header to initiate a partner check.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin

Yuily, you need to move past the bargaining phase of the grieving
process, and accept that you must remove these flights from the OLC
because they make us look bad as a group. You could petition the SSA
Board to change the FAR policy, but you are not likely to get a warm
response. In fact, given the present situation, you are not likely to
get any response for some time.

As far as changing the rules, the sunset rule has been on the books for
longer than almost anyone can remember. The SSA did not make this rule,
they just decided not to ignore it. It is unfortunate that the SSA FAR
policy statement is not dated, but I received a copy of it on January
20, 2006 when I was researching my presentation for the Knauff & Grove
March Soaring Seminar in State College, PA. It is also covered in the
presentation slides which were posted to the OLC site on April 1. See:

http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp...c=olc-i&spr=en

It is unfortunate that you did not see this information. But most
reasonable people find it intuitively obvious that you cannot get
credit for breaking the rules. And some of them have been complaining
about this as well. Is it reasonable to allow ignorace to become an
unfair advantage?


Yuliy Gerchikov wrote:
Doug,

May I make some suggestions? (1) Do not change OLC rules mid-season. (2) If
you insist on checking all traces for certain violations, do it at the time
of claim -- automatically -- and reject those that do not pass, there and
then.

Going back through the season and arbitrarily hand-picking "bad" flights
seems like huge waste of time -- yours and everybody else's.

More generally, I can't help but notice that OLC has become a much worse
place since SSA got involved. It started with a huge ugly STATIONARY banner
on top of SSA-OLC page that serves no good purpose but to generate
advertisement income for SSA at the expense of users' screen space. I
checked other national OLCs, and the ONLY three out of 29 that do this
tasteless disservice to their users are AT, FR and US.

Now this policing of the traces. OLC used to be an extremely valuable tool
for sharing and learning. I used to rave about it and promote it to all my
soaring friends. Still, I estimate that only about one-third of the pilots I
know post their flights. Which is a pity, because those who do NOT post tend
to be the more experienced and wiser pilots. See any connection?

You can count the "stages" in the "process", but I do not see how you can
count on the last one being acceptance. Many did not accept OLC to begin
with and still fewer will if the current trends with SSA-OLC continue. The
rate of participation will be further diminishing, as will be the value of
the OLC to the rest of us. Pity.

Once again, U.S.A. shows the way.

Thank you.
--
Yuliy Gerchikov


"Doug Haluza" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is cross posted from the SSA Home News & Information General
News:

As the days get shorter as the end of the soaring season nears, the
SSA-OLC Committee has been receiving complaints about flights after
sunset without required aircraft lighting. Although the requirements
for night flight begin at twilight for pilots in the US, the
requirements for aircraft lighting begin at sunset. Gliders without
approved lighting must land, and move clear of lighted runways and
taxiways before sunset.

IGC flight logs contain a GPS time stamp which is the most exact time
standard readily available. So, violations of this requirement are
quite plain to see in these logs. The SSA Board was concerned about
flight logs with obvious violations damaging the sport if they were
posted in the public record of the OLC. So the board adopted a policy
disqualifying such flights from the OLC, as well as FAI awards such as
badges and records. See:

http://www.ssa.org/download/SSA%20Po...Violations.pdf

The SSA-OLC Committee prefers that pilots voluntarily remove the
flights, rather than having them removed by an admin. We have contacted
a number of pilots to request this, and they are currently in various
stages of the 5-step grieving process (denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance). You can avoid this emotional roller
coaster by planning and executing your flights to be complete before
sunset, unless you have approved night lighting.

You can't just duct tape a flashlight to the nose for night flight. The
requirements for navigation lights are very specific to color,
intensity and direction. If your aircraft is equipped with approved
night lighting, and it was used for flight after sunset, you must put a
note in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining this.

We also have been advised of flight claims that show altitudes in the
log well above the 18,000' MSL limit for Class-A airspace in the US.
The IGC logger altitude is subject to a number of errors, which could
total to several hundred feet. We are currently reviewing with the
pilots a number of flights that appear to exceed even a reasonable
error budget.

Note that unless your flight reference altimeter has been properly
calibrated for IFR flight, and is set to a current ATC altimeter
setting, you will need to allow an extra buffer below 18,000' MSL
indicated altitude to account for possible errors. If you have an
encounter with an IFR aircraft with calibrated altitude references, the
calibrated references and ATC logs will be used to determine your
actual altitude in any subsequent investigation.

Again, if your flight log shows flight above 18,000 MSL, after
correcting for field elevation at takeoff, you will need to provide an
explanation in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining
this. The same requirement applies to entering special use airspace.
This will immediately answer any questions that may concern other
competitors, or anyone else reviewing your flight log in the future.

Finally, if you note a flight that appears to be questionable, do not
speculate in public forums (like news://rec.avation.soaring). Contact
the pilot privately if you can. If the flight is in the US, contact the
SSA-OLC Committee by email at olcatssadotorg. Or use the complaint
tab on the OLC Web header to initiate a partner check.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin

Doug, the sunset rule may have been on the books, but not on olc rules
until recently.
You decided to enforce it retroactively, which is unfair to say the
least. I guess this is one way to win a contest, when someone is
catching up - remove their flights...
simple fact is that OLC was great until SSA took over. It is simply a
shame the way it has been administered. You managed to upset your most
loyal promoters and contestants.
I propose a new rule for next season, each olc participants must be
checked for drugs after each flight.

Ramy

Doug Haluza wrote:
Yuily, you need to move past the bargaining phase of the grieving
process, and accept that you must remove these flights from the OLC
because they make us look bad as a group. You could petition the SSA
Board to change the FAR policy, but you are not likely to get a warm
response. In fact, given the present situation, you are not likely to
get any response for some time.

As far as changing the rules, the sunset rule has been on the books for
longer than almost anyone can remember. The SSA did not make this rule,
they just decided not to ignore it. It is unfortunate that the SSA FAR
policy statement is not dated, but I received a copy of it on January
20, 2006 when I was researching my presentation for the Knauff & Grove
March Soaring Seminar in State College, PA. It is also covered in the
presentation slides which were posted to the OLC site on April 1. See:

http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp...c=olc-i&spr=en

It is unfortunate that you did not see this information. But most
reasonable people find it intuitively obvious that you cannot get
credit for breaking the rules. And some of them have been complaining
about this as well. Is it reasonable to allow ignorace to become an
unfair advantage?


Yuliy Gerchikov wrote:
Doug,

May I make some suggestions? (1) Do not change OLC rules mid-season. (2) If
you insist on checking all traces for certain violations, do it at the time
of claim -- automatically -- and reject those that do not pass, there and
then.

Going back through the season and arbitrarily hand-picking "bad" flights
seems like huge waste of time -- yours and everybody else's.

More generally, I can't help but notice that OLC has become a much worse
place since SSA got involved. It started with a huge ugly STATIONARY banner
on top of SSA-OLC page that serves no good purpose but to generate
advertisement income for SSA at the expense of users' screen space. I
checked other national OLCs, and the ONLY three out of 29 that do this
tasteless disservice to their users are AT, FR and US.

Now this policing of the traces. OLC used to be an extremely valuable tool
for sharing and learning. I used to rave about it and promote it to all my
soaring friends. Still, I estimate that only about one-third of the pilots I
know post their flights. Which is a pity, because those who do NOT post tend
to be the more experienced and wiser pilots. See any connection?

You can count the "stages" in the "process", but I do not see how you can
count on the last one being acceptance. Many did not accept OLC to begin
with and still fewer will if the current trends with SSA-OLC continue. The
rate of participation will be further diminishing, as will be the value of
the OLC to the rest of us. Pity.

Once again, U.S.A. shows the way.

Thank you.
--
Yuliy Gerchikov


"Doug Haluza" wrote in message
oups.com...
This is cross posted from the SSA Home News & Information General
News:

As the days get shorter as the end of the soaring season nears, the
SSA-OLC Committee has been receiving complaints about flights after
sunset without required aircraft lighting. Although the requirements
for night flight begin at twilight for pilots in the US, the
requirements for aircraft lighting begin at sunset. Gliders without
approved lighting must land, and move clear of lighted runways and
taxiways before sunset.

IGC flight logs contain a GPS time stamp which is the most exact time
standard readily available. So, violations of this requirement are
quite plain to see in these logs. The SSA Board was concerned about
flight logs with obvious violations damaging the sport if they were
posted in the public record of the OLC. So the board adopted a policy
disqualifying such flights from the OLC, as well as FAI awards such as
badges and records. See:

http://www.ssa.org/download/SSA%20Po...Violations.pdf

The SSA-OLC Committee prefers that pilots voluntarily remove the
flights, rather than having them removed by an admin. We have contacted
a number of pilots to request this, and they are currently in various
stages of the 5-step grieving process (denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance). You can avoid this emotional roller
coaster by planning and executing your flights to be complete before
sunset, unless you have approved night lighting.

You can't just duct tape a flashlight to the nose for night flight. The
requirements for navigation lights are very specific to color,
intensity and direction. If your aircraft is equipped with approved
night lighting, and it was used for flight after sunset, you must put a
note in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining this.

We also have been advised of flight claims that show altitudes in the
log well above the 18,000' MSL limit for Class-A airspace in the US.
The IGC logger altitude is subject to a number of errors, which could
total to several hundred feet. We are currently reviewing with the
pilots a number of flights that appear to exceed even a reasonable
error budget.

Note that unless your flight reference altimeter has been properly
calibrated for IFR flight, and is set to a current ATC altimeter
setting, you will need to allow an extra buffer below 18,000' MSL
indicated altitude to account for possible errors. If you have an
encounter with an IFR aircraft with calibrated altitude references, the
calibrated references and ATC logs will be used to determine your
actual altitude in any subsequent investigation.

Again, if your flight log shows flight above 18,000 MSL, after
correcting for field elevation at takeoff, you will need to provide an
explanation in the comments section of the OLC claim form explaining
this. The same requirement applies to entering special use airspace.
This will immediately answer any questions that may concern other
competitors, or anyone else reviewing your flight log in the future.

Finally, if you note a flight that appears to be questionable, do not
speculate in public forums (like news://rec.avation.soaring). Contact
the pilot privately if you can. If the flight is in the US, contact the
SSA-OLC Committee by email at olcatssadotorg. Or use the complaint
tab on the OLC Web header to initiate a partner check.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin