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#21
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If you happen
to declare something inadvertently by a bad attack of button pushing, then you have only yourself to blame. and the converse (or is it contrapositive), if you happen to declare something inadvertently by attaching power to the logger, you have only the manufacturer to blame. It would seem from the experience of the originator of this thread that at least part of the failure was due to his peers not giving sufficient instruction on the do's and Don'ts required to verify the flight. There is a basic assumption that a pre-silver pilot (except Al) does not have an in depth understanding of the requirements and it is up to whoever briefs him/her on the flight to advise on who preparations to make. I almost laughed when I read this. Got quite a smile. The pilots here who've been doing this 30 years haven't the slightest idea what any of this badge mumbo jumbo means. There are so many landmines, including loggers that self-declare when power is applied, and broken springs, and questions about whether a tow release start-point is also a turnpoint, that eyes glaze over and most pilots just drool and twitch when this subject comes up. I may not have the in depth understanding of the requirements, but I'm smart enough to be surprised by anyone who does... I'm also smart enough that I'll run my prospective future badge distance flights by thebadgelady BEFORE the flight. |
#22
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My LX20 has 80hours of memory as do most of the decent loggers. Running
out of memory is a "pilot error" unless you are making 1000+km flights with short intervals for recording. Pity the cost - even second hand is $200 Mark James Boyd wrote: Running out of memory is from the %^&** pilot not clearing the memory before the flight. I set it for 9 second intervals and get 24 hours or so I think. So make sure the logger doesn't have any courses in it, make sure you have enough battery power for the flight (or seperate power source), and make sure you've cleared the memory so there is some for the flight. Surprisingly complex, not just a "turn it on and everything will be fine" deal. I can't wait for eTrex or Garmin to make one with oooodles of memory, doesn't use much battery, uses WAAS so no calibration, and has a good interface (that doesn't auto-declare either). Oh and does .igc real well. And costs $200. |
#23
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Interesting.
I am waiting in anticipation having (unintentionally) challenged a few of these issues. Let's look at the sequence of events. I am a recent convert to a XC capable aircraft, of which there are only two at our club. Similarly I own the only data logger in the club. Ergo there is very little available in the way of guidance. My third flight in the Cirrus provided Silver height and duration. The next logical step is to start going places. So a nice Autumn day offers the opportunity to explore some XC, and in accordance with club rules I notify the duty instructor and OO of my intention to practice my XC skills, in preparation for my formal Silver distance flight. Our club also has a "Silver goal" approach to this because until I put my logger in, there was only the camera and baro option available. Hende the standard Silver Distance task at our club is a 62 Km flight to another airfield and land and retrieve. We know it works - so nobody has tried anything different for years... My intention was to fly in the other direction, a slightly shorter route around a power/glider field to our west and return. Intention was to get some more navigation experience, and improve my XC speed. The reason for the choice of turn point was simple. I wanted the option to land and to be able to launch from there if I was unable to get home. Our "standard airfield" is a little further, and has no launch facilities. So the shorter route with the option of aerial retrieve won. I made arrangements with the operators at the turn point airfield for accomodation for my glider in case I failed, and planned the flight. As a first flight with my new (second hand LX20) logger I wanted to test if the thing actually worked. I did not have a mount for it yet so it was wired in and secured to the bulkhead. This means that I was navigating by map and compass on the flight. The flight was delayed by various airfield problems, and I was distracted and not thinking as well as I should have been . By the time I launched it was 13:30 local time, in autumn that means there is a strong possibility of the day dying after only a couple of hours. I failed to think about this and launched with my objective in mind. Overconfident because of the 150 Km polygon I had achieved on my last flight. This was not quite bumbling around aimlessly, but was undeclared and I simply went where the conditions looked good and flew a rectangluar course. The actual flight was fine, starting at a remote point to the east of the field I flew over the field and on to my TP. I was pleased with my speed and followed the landmarks happily. Problem was I was not watching the time and spent too long climbing at my last thermal before heading for the TP. There was a lot of sink, and by the time I had returned to the thermal I was below it. Realisation starts to occur that the day may be dying, and I am now 45Km from home and 3000" AGL - a Standard Cirrus flown expertly can't do that - and I am no expert... After much scratching the day really did die and, eventually, I was forced to concede and made a decent circuit and landing at the remote airfield. This resulted in the expected lecture from the CFI - including the part about it being a better decision to land safely, no matter how inconveniently than to make a bad outlanding. General consensus was that it was probably not neccessary, as conditions were probably good enough to get home. General consensus was also that it was a good decision as I was unconfident of my ability to get home. The retrieve was much delayed so I ended up using the offered hangar and collecting the Cirrus later. We ended the day very pleasantly under the stars with our hosts - and that was it. Until we looked at the logger trace. Now the LX20 showed 53Km flown between the furthest points, and that I was higher at the destination point than at launch. I did not know anything about the rules other than that a 50Km flight needed to be flown so I asked our badge person, who is new to the job and was not sure. So I submitted the claim. The local view is that the log shows 50km flown to a goal with greater altitude at the destination than at release. However the landing was 50Km from the takeoff and the landing airfield is 1% lower than the release altitude. Whether this will be accepted is doubtful, but since we sent in the application already we can only see what happens. What I do know is a lot more about my personal capabilites, and a little more about weather reading. I am also a little more grateful for the LX20 in it's mount on the panel because now navigation is a lot easier, and I can use more attention for other things. Like thermalling a little better so I don't end landing out... Personally I find the badge system useful and fun. It is a structured set of goals with some kind of impartial affirmation. It is one way of getting some objective feel for your relative development, and what would your funny hat look like with nothing to adorn it? As with many things the progress of technology makes rules and procedures obsolete or at least nonsensical. This is true of the soaring badge system, but it does not meant that the system is invalid. Only that it is perhaps a little less convenient than we may like. In the probable event that the trace is not accepted (having now studied the rules), I will hopefully have done a couple of longer flights that do meet the rules. Since I enjoy the soaring anyway, it is fun doing it again. I learned a lot, found a whole area I did not know much about, and am now challenged to get it right. As a development tool the badge system works, even if it is in need of some modernisation. Fly safe. Bruce |
#24
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I'm looking for a wave camp this autumn or winter in Europe, where I could fly my first 3000 or 5000m. Any advice! /Janos |
#25
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Sisteron and Vinon keep flying during the winter. With the Mistral blowing,
Sisteron is a no-brainer to do 3000m, and fairly simple to do 5000m. The latter means that you have to descent below release altitude to somewhat around 200m AGL, but doing that at a north facing slope nearby is not that tough... "Janos Bauer" a écrit dans le message de . .. I'm looking for a wave camp this autumn or winter in Europe, where I could fly my first 3000 or 5000m. Any advice! /Janos |
#26
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#27
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Martin Gregorie s comments read:
There are many crew who are not SSA members, pilots, or in any way associated with an airport. Another land mine. I don't think that matters. If the person(s) know where they are, can recognise a glider, read its registration and sign their name they'll do as witnesses. I take it you didn't do your Silver distance in a NNE direction from Gransden then ;-) -- Tim - ASW20CL "20" |
#28
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In message , Mark James Boyd
writes My first Silver badge attempt flew to an airport 55km away. Circled for an hour waiting for the tow/retrieve pilot to show up and witness the landing. Sent in the paperwork, sent the baro for calibration. Baro spring broke during calibration. Couldn't calibrate. Two things. I thought that two independent witnesses who weren't registered observers would do. Also, unless you want to claim the sliver height I though that calibration wasn't necessary for distance as the plot is just proving that you haven't landed on the way. But well done on getting there Robin -- Robin Birch |
#29
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In message , Kirk Stant
writes Mark, Congratulations on getting your Silver - It only gets better! Sounds like you managed to find all the ways to not get it first! Actually, now with GPS loggers, it's really easy. But you definitely have to understand the rules, jump through the hoops (in the right direction), and finish the paperwork. That's why it's a badge, after all. Otherwise, just go out and fly 50 km and be happy! (What's wrong, Al, scared you might make a mistake?). While on the subject of badges, I wonder why we don't have any speed badges to go with the distance ones - since speed is what is now one of the main objectives of XC soaring. Something like 50 kph (30 mph) over 50 km for Silver Speed, 100 kph (60mph) over 150 km for Gold Speed, and 150 kph (90 mph) over 300 km for Diamond Speed. Just a thought... Kirk 66 We have two stages to the 100km ticket. The first is untimed, the second is to do it in better than 60 km/h. A suitable drive towards getting round 300 in time Robin -- Robin Birch |
#30
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On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 14:33:15 +0100, Tim
wrote: Martin Gregorie s comments read: There are many crew who are not SSA members, pilots, or in any way associated with an airport. Another land mine. I don't think that matters. If the person(s) know where they are, can recognise a glider, read its registration and sign their name they'll do as witnesses. I take it you didn't do your Silver distance in a NNE direction from Gransden then ;-) Indeed. Is Hus.Bos ever empty? I went to Rattlesden on an August Bank Holiday, so there were plenty of observers on the field when I arrived. I did it in a Junior in blue condtions and took 3 1/2 hours over it. I used to be *very* slow in blue conditions and am not a lot faster now. The Silver distance I mentioned also went to Rattlesden, but arrived to find a deserted airfield. -- martin@ : Martin Gregorie gregorie : Harlow, UK demon : co : Zappa fan & glider pilot uk : |
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