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#1
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Cross Country the main focus of soaring?
I have been very concerned about our club, which discourages cross country
in club gliders. My thought is that purpose of soaring is cross country and if one just concentrates on flying above the airport then ones member ship tends to end when you have your license. We have many airports withing a 15 miles radius and many flat fields with always an option of landing in cut hay fields, harvested bean and corn fields etc. There is no lack of good landing fields or airports. Our board is composed of pilots who do not go cross country and surprisingly none of the instructors have flown cross country ( there may be an exception.... but none I know of have gone recently). And I am not allowed to teach since I insist on wearing a parachute for both student and instructor. ( I have in the past provided a chute for the student). The thought at our club is that if you want to go cross country you buy your own ship... a rasther harsh reality for many pilots. I have found surprisingly ( tonque in cheek here) that if there is lift at the airport we fly from there is usually lift 10 to 50 miles away but I have no way of convincing our board members. Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? -mat -- Marske Flying Wings http://www.continuo.com/marske |
#2
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mat Redsell wrote:
Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? I don't think this will convince anybody, but in Europe, everybody takes the club ships cross country. In many countries, you even need some cross country experience to get your license. No way somebody could become an instructor without thorough cross country experience. In our club, the only pilots that stay near the airfield are the acro pilots. Stefan |
#3
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Matt,
Our club (North Carolina Soaring Association, USA) encourages club members to fly cross country. After a member gets settled into flying the club's L-33 Solo or HpH 304C, they start to venture out from home base. They may fly with more experienced cross country pilots or they may make the flight of more than one thermal away from home on their own. Our club has a Master Cross Country Instructor and he has given classes in the art of venturing out on Cross Country. Members have also taken advantage of the cross country and competition fun-fly's offered by the Blue Ridge Soaring Society in Virginia, USA. They've taken the club's L-33 up there for these courses and last year, one of our members won a day flying the L-33. (The Blue Ridge Soaring Society is located about a four to five hour drive away from the NCSA field.) A member who starts going cross country is encouraged to have a trailer hitch installed on his car or make arrangements for someone with a tow hitch to retrieve him, if the need arrises. But for the past three weekends or more, either passing hurricanes or the broken towplane (due to normal wear and tear and not the weather) have kept everyone grounded :-( Ray Lovinggood Carrboro, North Carolina, USA LS-1d |
#4
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Hi Mat,
interesting problem you have there. One point first, parachutes DEFINITELY !! My club here in the UK does not have much of a reputation for cross country. This is a bit historic as the club has only been going 5 years or so and only have K7's to play with and very little money to update the kit. We are blessed though with a 20 mile ridge very close to the site, so long flights are easily achieved with that. Earlier this year I took the BGA's Cross Country Endorsement tests. Some of this entails flying a motor glider on a 100 km triangle whilst map reading. Having not gone XC I found it rather difficult to use the map this first time, even though an ordnance survey map is like reading to me! To achieve instructor level I have to complete this level and then the Silver, so no one in the UK now gets to be an instructor without some XC experience. One important down side on not going XC is that people generally get a bit bored with "local" flights. This follows on over time and everyone gets bored, then they go somewhere else or even out of the sport. The costs and time factor are of course important for any club, but the motivation to less experienced pilots of this sort of flying must be a major benefit. It would seem you have a difficult task moving the dinosaurs out of the mud!! Best of luck, Malcolm... PS. On parachutes; Last year we got a K8 at the club, which I flew for the first time one lovely day. It came with a wonderful seat which was better than my arm chair at home, but no room for a parachute. My flight went to cloud base at 6200' and after 45 mins I came down to give others a chance. That evening I returned to find the "Soaring & Gliding" magazine had arrived. I read first (as always) the accidents. There was a case of a K8 flying into an area for parachutists, and being hit in one wing. The pilot died only because he didn't have a chute. I have never flown that or another glider since without a parachute (save definitely winch/circuit days) "mat Redsell" wrote in message news:0LE6d.36$lf2.15@trnddc09... I have been very concerned about our club, which discourages cross country in club gliders. My thought is that purpose of soaring is cross country and if one just concentrates on flying above the airport then ones member ship tends to end when you have your license. We have many airports withing a 15 miles radius and many flat fields with always an option of landing in cut hay fields, harvested bean and corn fields etc. There is no lack of good landing fields or airports. Our board is composed of pilots who do not go cross country and surprisingly none of the instructors have flown cross country ( there may be an exception.... but none I know of have gone recently). And I am not allowed to teach since I insist on wearing a parachute for both student and instructor. ( I have in the past provided a chute for the student). The thought at our club is that if you want to go cross country you buy your own ship... a rasther harsh reality for many pilots. I have found surprisingly ( tonque in cheek here) that if there is lift at the airport we fly from there is usually lift 10 to 50 miles away but I have no way of convincing our board members. Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? -mat -- Marske Flying Wings http://www.continuo.com/marske |
#5
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It is sad, but easy to understand. 'If a dog is owned
in partnership, the dog will starve.' -- An old saying that illustrates that every one wants someone else to take responsibility. Club might not be insured. The trailers might not be maintained. The license plates for the trailers might not be up to date. The members don't want the glider gone that long because someone else wants a flight., etc. We solved the problem, partially, by buying a PW-5 and encouraging its use for X/C with the normal time limit of 1 hour excused for badge flights and X/C flights. Another way is for 2-4 people to buy an old, cheap glider together. It is not ideal, but at least you can do the Silver and pursue Gold flights on occasion. It is better to have a low performer and fly lots than to have a super machine and be limited in the amount of flying you can do. Having instructors who do X/C is a must or it will never really happen. At 20:42 29 September 2004, Mat Redsell wrote: I have been very concerned about our club, which discourages cross country in club gliders. My thought is that purpose of soaring is cross country and if one just concentrates on flying above the airport then ones member ship tends to end when you have your license. We have many airports withing a 15 miles radius and many flat fields with always an option of landing in cut hay fields, harvested bean and corn fields etc. There is no lack of good landing fields or airports. Our board is composed of pilots who do not go cross country and surprisingly none of the instructors have flown cross country ( there may be an exception.... but none I know of have gone recently). And I am not allowed to teach since I insist on wearing a parachute for both student and instructor. ( I have in the past provided a chute for the student). The thought at our club is that if you want to go cross country you buy your own ship... a rasther harsh reality for many pilots. I have found surprisingly ( tonque in cheek here) that if there is lift at the airport we fly from there is usually lift 10 to 50 miles away but I have no way of convincing our board members. Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? -mat -- Marske Flying Wings http://www.continuo.com/marske |
#6
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Mat.. we encourage cross country flying.. especially soon after a student
gets his rating. We have a SGS 1-26 and an LS-4 for cross country, and a Grob 103 to teach cross country. Our primary trainer is a 2-33. The closest airport is 14nm away and on the other side of a 8000ft high ridge line (ridge is about 5000ft above airport elevation) but we do have a couple of dry lake beds in season about 5nm away. First cross countries are encouraged to be Silver Distance in the clubs 1-26. BT "mat Redsell" wrote in message news:0LE6d.36$lf2.15@trnddc09... I have been very concerned about our club, which discourages cross country in club gliders. My thought is that purpose of soaring is cross country and if one just concentrates on flying above the airport then ones member ship tends to end when you have your license. We have many airports withing a 15 miles radius and many flat fields with always an option of landing in cut hay fields, harvested bean and corn fields etc. There is no lack of good landing fields or airports. Our board is composed of pilots who do not go cross country and surprisingly none of the instructors have flown cross country ( there may be an exception.... but none I know of have gone recently). And I am not allowed to teach since I insist on wearing a parachute for both student and instructor. ( I have in the past provided a chute for the student). The thought at our club is that if you want to go cross country you buy your own ship... a rasther harsh reality for many pilots. I have found surprisingly ( tonque in cheek here) that if there is lift at the airport we fly from there is usually lift 10 to 50 miles away but I have no way of convincing our board members. Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? -mat -- Marske Flying Wings http://www.continuo.com/marske |
#7
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Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for
short cross country runs? -mat Avenal encourages X-C, but then again it's nothing but flat fields in all directions for the most part, and our gliders are very cheap (all under $10k) so there is little financial risk. Another club, BASA, has quite pricey gliders and lots of X-C, but requires a minimum Private Glider license to fly the Pegasi or 1-34 or DG-1000 or Grob 103. And requires one maintain a 2/3 glide ratio to a known landable field for all flights. If X-C isn't alowed in your club's ships, then maybe a private sub-club with its own glider is in order. If there's enough folks interested, then the demand is there, right? -- ------------+ Mark J. Boyd |
#8
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Stefan wrote:
mat Redsell wrote: Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? I don't think this will convince anybody, but in Europe, everybody takes the club ships cross country. In many countries, you even need some cross country experience to get your license. No way somebody could become an instructor without thorough cross country experience. In our club, the only pilots that stay near the airfield are the acro pilots. Stefan It is a requirement in South Africa - no silver C (at least one 50km XC) - no instructor brevet. Very simple. |
#9
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$0.02 from the Soaring Club of Houston--
We are in the flat coastal plains and the club doesn't have a history of promoting XC--our instructor staff and club management attitude are much the same as you describe. What might be interesting to you is how we are CHANGING. A sub-group within the club, led by an instructor w/XC experience and a lot of energy, has been holding training classes and putting the trailers in shape. Bronze Badge is the club requirement for XC flight and we're holding Bronze Badge days to help members clear that hurdle. The training classes have covered topics like Thermalling and XC decision making. They've taken field trips driving around identifying the best land-out fields. In general, club ships are reserved for 1:30 slots. Certificated Airmen with Bronze Badge can reserve ships for up to a full day for XC flights and badge work. They must also secure a retrieve crew in advance. Club fleet is: 2 Blanik L-23's 1 Grob 1 Blanik L-33 1 Schwiezer 2-33 1 Lark (on lease-back to club) Brent "mat Redsell" wrote in message news:0LE6d.36$lf2.15@trnddc09... I have been very concerned about our club, which discourages cross country in club gliders. My thought is that purpose of soaring is cross country and if one just concentrates on flying above the airport then ones member ship tends to end when you have your license. We have many airports withing a 15 miles radius and many flat fields with always an option of landing in cut hay fields, harvested bean and corn fields etc. There is no lack of good landing fields or airports. Our board is composed of pilots who do not go cross country and surprisingly none of the instructors have flown cross country ( there may be an exception.... but none I know of have gone recently). And I am not allowed to teach since I insist on wearing a parachute for both student and instructor. ( I have in the past provided a chute for the student). The thought at our club is that if you want to go cross country you buy your own ship... a rasther harsh reality for many pilots. I have found surprisingly ( tonque in cheek here) that if there is lift at the airport we fly from there is usually lift 10 to 50 miles away but I have no way of convincing our board members. Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? -mat -- Marske Flying Wings http://www.continuo.com/marske |
#10
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Basically you can tell to your clu leader board that anyone in r.a.s thinks
that they are plain idiots and shall step down from club management. Banning XC does not prevent accidents and glider loss, but it can kill local soaring activity rather fast. Regards, Kaido "mat Redsell" wrote in message news:0LE6d.36$lf2.15@trnddc09... I have been very concerned about our club, which discourages cross country in club gliders. My thought is that purpose of soaring is cross country and if one just concentrates on flying above the airport then ones member ship tends to end when you have your license. We have many airports withing a 15 miles radius and many flat fields with always an option of landing in cut hay fields, harvested bean and corn fields etc. There is no lack of good landing fields or airports. Our board is composed of pilots who do not go cross country and surprisingly none of the instructors have flown cross country ( there may be an exception.... but none I know of have gone recently). And I am not allowed to teach since I insist on wearing a parachute for both student and instructor. ( I have in the past provided a chute for the student). The thought at our club is that if you want to go cross country you buy your own ship... a rasther harsh reality for many pilots. I have found surprisingly ( tonque in cheek here) that if there is lift at the airport we fly from there is usually lift 10 to 50 miles away but I have no way of convincing our board members. Can anyone give me some ideas.... and do other clubs let their ships for short cross country runs? -mat -- Marske Flying Wings http://www.continuo.com/marske |
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