President's Prerogative
Springtime

Ah, Spring is in the air. Flowers are blooming, the birds are singing, and a young man's thoughts turn to... safety. (Please hold those snickers re: my youth, or lack thereof.) Yes, safety. First of all, let me thank Jim Kellett, Bill Bentley, and Shane Neitzey for putting on what I believe is the finest Spring Safety Meeting ever in our Club's history. The talks were highly relevant, candid, and contained a minimum of fluff and rhetoric. Bill Bentley's discussion of the circumstances under which he "would" hand me 150 feet or so of tow rope has left an indelible impression in my mind, and I will endeavor even more strongly to keep his hand away from the release lever. If you missed the meeting, please budget time to view the videotape in the FBO pilot lounge before taking your next flight.

It's Not Gonna Be Me

One of my persistent themes is that each of us should, on the way out to the field, make a personal commitment to be accident-free "that day". This may seem like a platitude, but it's quite serious and quite practical. Jim Kellett made the point during his safety meeting presentation that we are always just one flight away from our next accident, and it is somewhat disconcerting to realize how quickly the tables can be turned on our great pride in our Club's eight year accident-free record. You may be saying to yourself, "Well, I'm a good and conscientious pilot, and it's not gonna be me who causes that accident. It will be mechanical failure, or the other guy who is to blame." Well, the statistics respectfully disagree with you. Pilot error is responsible for somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of all accidents, and even though the accident "rates" decline dramatically as one considers more sophisticated aircraft and more highly-trained pilots, the total fraction of accidents attributable to pilot error remains relatively close to that same 70-80 percent. You can do a lot to reduce those odds by taking some relatively simple steps such as not flying under the influence of anything other than oxygen, not venturing into IMC conditions, and not running out of gas. (Oops, I lifted that last line from an article written for airplane pilots. I guess we glider pilots are really screwed now.) So, please, admit to yourself-if not everyone else-that it is possible that you could be one of those who uses pilot error on the way to your next accident. Confessing is the first step to salvation. True Confessions

Speaking of confessions, we are embarking on an interesting new approach to handling safety-related Club rule infractions. I think I've mentioned in past articles that the board has been working on revisions to some of the rules in the Operations Manual to make them more relevant, easy to understand, and enforceable. That effort continues, but in the meantime the board has been working to establish a policy for addressing infractions fairly and evenly for all members. The approach has been-for cases of semi-inadvertent (or at least without malice and aforethought) infractions- to issue a letter to the offending pilot(s), putting them on notice that further infractions will be addressed more firmly via suspension of flying privileges, fines, etc. These more draconian methods have not been required, thankfully, although some pilots have been asked to undergo remedial training and/or not solo until certain conditions have been met.

This policy seems to be working well, but we are adding another part to it. We are requesting that any pilot who-again, without malice and aforethought-breaks a safety-related rule, to take the initiative and write up a report on the infraction(s) and lessons learned and submit it in confidence to skyline-directors@www.ssl.umd.edu. Just as an Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) report is treated confidentially and can be used as a get-out-of-jail-free card to avoid enforcement action by the FAA, this report would serve to avoid the dreaded Letter of Reprimand from the board. The board would use these reports to help focus future safety meeting topic selection, refine Club rules, etc. It's a win-win situation. By the way, the pilot would be encouraged to write up and publish their experiences for the benefit of all Club members, but the separate report to the board might contain some items that the perhaps the pilot would rather not reveal to such a broad audience. Please give this idea some thought and let us know how you feel about it. Boy Scouts

I was thinking that we are just a bunch of overgrown Boy Scouts, off in pursuit of more badges. The BSA would be horrified to learn of the incredible expense, time, energy, and risks that are taken by supposedly mature individuals in the pursuit of these badges, which mean essentially nothing to anyone other than their owners. So, the next time you are barely cheating death in the course of acquiring that next badge, try to put it all into context. Have fun, by all means, but please don't give the Boy Scouts a bad name. Next month:

Fiscal responsibility, or how to convince your spouse that a sailplane is a better investment than Microsoft stock. See you at the field.
-Joe Parrish

On The Horizon is an Airliner. Headed Our Way.
By now you have probably heard of the formally reported NMAC (Near Mid-Air Collision) between a Lufthansa 747 and a Pik-20 flown by a M-ASA member over Frederick, MD early in March. What you may not have heard was the long list of both reported (and unreported) NMACs over the last decade. And have you heard that ATC is nearing completion of a new software installation that will help them handle the expected doubling in traffic at IAD over the next decade?

Gliders, as any other aircraft type certificated without an electrical system, are exempt from the requirement to use transponders in the veil to Class Bravo airspace. That exemption, however, can lead to glider pilots having a false sense of security. And that security is still false even when surprisingly far away from Class Bravo airspace, since currently ATC is dropping traffic approaching IAD to low (e.g., less than 10,000') altitudes farther and farther away from the airport. It is not uncommon to see airliners flying approaches to IAD going northeast in the valley at 6,000' or so!

The Soaring Society of America now "strongly encourages" voluntary installation of transponders (with altitude encoding-Mode C) in gliders. That's based on extensive study by experts in the society who have been working on airspace and traffic issues for years, and who have established a dialog with FAA headquarters on the whole range of issues presented. If you own a glider flying in the Shenandoah Valley, this is very good and serious advice.

But, sadly, nothing's easy. The issue is exceptionally complicated. Right now, there are no perfect choices for instruments to install (all have some combination of too expensive, too heavy, too high power drain, etc.) although there are units that excel in some of these characteristics, and there exists the possibility that a better unit will become available "soon". And the installation dramatically increases the maintenance requirements (and costs). And requires familiarity with regulations and procedures heretofore unused in soaring. Finally, a transponder still does not provide perfect protection from a MAC with an airliner, and it provides very little or no protection from a MAC with an uncontrolled general aviation (GA) aircraft. It only provides much improved protection against the low-probability but VERY HIGH risk encounter with an airliner. (That's the really intolerable kind of accident that could pretty much end soaring as we know it.)

So, what should you do? Here's some suggestions:

1. Get up to speed on what ALL the pros and cons are; technical, economic, procedural, small-p political, etc.
2. Learn for yourself what the options are for available instruments. Here's some places to start:
   • Terra Corp T250 Series (service and repair only) http://www.trimble.com/
   • Garmin: http://www.garmin.com/gtx320.html
   • Becker ATC 3401-R/C & Garmin GTX 320: http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page4.htm
   • REMF XPR250 France and Composite Technologies South Africa: http://www.aeropages.co.za/CompTechXpndr.html

3. Stay on top of rapidly changing developments.

Finally, a general word about the SSA and the FAA... One of the best kept secrets in soaring is that the Society is hard at work, quietly and in the background, working with key people at all levels of the bureaucracy to protect and preserve our position within the aviation community. This is a most delicate task, requiring a very high degree of technical and political savvy. Even the most astute and well-meaning glider pilot could, by directly raising issues and/or recommending solutions with the FAA (either headquarters or a FSDO) without coordinating with the SSA, do a serious disservice to the sport. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please work with the group of dedicated volunteers in the SSA!! Who are they? Well, for starters Jim Short is the head of the Society's Government Relations Committee. Karol Hines is the Chairperson of the Airspace Subcommittee, and Carl Herold is the immediate past Chair and a most knowledgeable resource about this topic.

Talk to them. They're on YOUR side!-Jim Kellett, Chief Flight Instructor I think your editorial is right on target. I think our greatest obstacle now to Mode C in gliders-voluntarily-is the technology of the installation. Karol Hines is setting up a meeting with FAA in the next 45 days to talk about this issue, but in the meantime, any ideas which members can come up with are important to them and to all soaring in the United States. Please keep Karol (Karol_soarLL@compuserve.com), and me advised. Feel free to copy Carl Herold, too. He gave an excellent presentation at Albuquerque on the items your article discussed. Thanks for your efforts,
-Jim Short, Vice-Chair, Soaring Society of America.

Meet the Member-David Weaver
Dave Weaver was born in Miami, Florida and lived there until he went away to college in the Fall of 1970. Dave's father worked for National Airlines for thirty-five years, which helped to spark his interest in all things that fly. At the age of thirteen, Dave saw the old Walt Disney movie "The Boy Who Flew With Condors". That was all it took for Dave to lobby his parents to find a place for him to learn to fly gliders. As it turned out Dave's father worked with some folks who knew a woman who owned a flying school at Tamiami Airport and conducted glider instruction on the weekends. The owner of the school was Mary Gaffaney, a prominent aerobatic pilot and future World Aerobatic Champion (Salon De Provence, France-1972). Bernie Carris checked her out in gliders at the Schweitzer School in Elmira, New York. The glider operation was located at Kendall Gliderport, about 15 miles west of Miami. What a fantastic strip! A beautifully manicured turf runway, 3000 feet long and surrounded on three sides by the most inhospitable terrain imaginable, the Florida Everglades.

The school's operation was somewhat sporadic and the venerable SGU 2-22 trainer was down for repairs for awhile after the instructor and Dave got caught with a rain shower between them and the gliderport. This phenomenon caused them to loose sight of the field and forced them to land off field in the Everglades, in the middle of the wet season. It took them three hours to hike the mile-and-half back to the strip through knee deep water, coral rock and saw grass. The glider had to be airlifted out via Sikorsky helicopter. Because of these discontinuities, it took Dave awhile to solo but shortly after his fourteenth birthday he flew the 2-22 alone for the first time.

In short order, Dave got his Private Pilot Certificate with glider rating and went on to get his airplane rating at the age of sixteen. In 1970 he graduated from Miami Killian High School and set off to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville (Go Gators!). Dave majored in Aerospace Engineering and went through school on an Air Force scholarship. He continued to fly all through college and picked uphis Commercial ticket and Instrument rating. He was also one of the founding members of U of F soaring club which operated out of Williston Airport, about 20 miles south of Gainesville.

During Christmas break in 1971, Dave traveled to Black Forest Glider Port, in Colorado, to fly in the infamous Pikes Peak Wave. He flew Jim Munn's beautiful, red SGS 1-34 to an altitude of 33,000 feet, where ATC wouldn't open the window any higher. This flight earned Dave his altitude Diamond and one Lennie Pin.

Dave graduated from Florida in the summer of 1974 with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force that very same day. However, due to the ending of the Vietnam War, Air Force pilot production was cut back and he didn't enter active duty until February of 1976. During the interim period, Dave went back to Miami to work as a flight instructor at Kendall Flying School. He finally entered active duty in February of 1976 after waiting nearly nineteen months. Upon entering active duty, Dave became a member of Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 77-04 at Columbus AFB, Mississippi. He could hardly believe it. They were going to pay him to fly jet airplanes. Something he would have gladly done for free.

During his twenty year Air Force Career, Dave picked up his Master's Degree and managed to enjoy two soaring related assignments. The first was an assignment to the United States Air Force Academy as chief of Standardization and Evaluation for the Academy Soaring Program. While at the Academy he became a FAA Designated Examiner for Private, Commercial and Flight Instructor-Glider.

After his tour at the Air Force Academy, Dave received a special duty assignment to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, at Beale AFB, CA, where he flew the world's highest performance motorglider, the Lockheed U-2.

Dave retired from the Air Force in 1996 after spending his last four years on active duty in the Pentagon. He currently lives in Manassas, VA with his wife Helen, daughter Candice and son Heath. Dave now works as a senior systems engineer for Veridian-PSR in Herndon, VA.

Wind and Rust: A Bad Combination
We all know the feeling of being rusty. It's not a good one. A lack of confidence can severely effect competence. There must be balance. Now let's combine the rustiness of a 3 month layoff with strong wind conditions. Vertical winds as well as the horizontal.

Scenario; you're on downwind in the pattern and low. The natural tendency is to complete a full pattern and touch down in the landing zone. As the earth rises up, you to raise the nose to prevent it. This increases your descent angle and the ground comes up more quickly. You pull up even more to compensate. Now we can say, you are distracted. With the earth continuing its rapid rise, you begin a turn towards the runway. Low altitude turns are scary so you don't bank as much and use more rudder. This skidding turn and low airspeed creates a greater descent angle. But you must complete the turn to final and the ground is rising fast. The nose begins to drop so you pull back on the stick stop it. The low wing suddenly drops down and over you go landing on the nose, past vertical. Sorry, you won't go home tonight.

Scary? You bet.

Don't let this happen to you. I have recently seen some piloting that contained some of the characteristics outlined above. Most fatal sailplane accidents are from stall/spins on approach. Many things can be attributed to this kind of mistake; insufficient training, fatigue, dehydration, illness, and lack of proficiency. You can help prevent this by visualization of this scenario and knowing its pitfalls.

If you enter a pattern lower than normal, at minimum, maintain best L/D speed plus 1/2 estimated wind on the surface. Consider landing on the second half of the runway. Most of us stop well within the first 1000 feet of the runway. Why not use the second or third thousand. If you are at 500' agl at the beginning of downwind, turn onto base leg early enough to land on the second half of the runway. Better embarrassed than sorry. A well banked turn,-45 degrees, is safer than a shallow bank. But stay coordinated. By the way, an intentional slip is coordinated flight.

I cannot cover everything in this writing. But to recap, Know your limits. Maintain required airspeed/pitch attitude. Plan your ground track and change as necessary. Use well banked coordinated turns. Fend off the notion that you must follow a perfect pattern to a perfect landing every time. Never stop flying the aircraft.

Some old sayings-

The three rules of aviation, in order of authority.

"Aviate, Navigate, Communicate."

"Altitude equates to energy, without it, your not going anywhere" and;

"Lose not thine airspeed lest the earth rise up to smite thee."
-Shane Neitzey

Role On...
As I have taken over as DO weenie, Glenn has been elevated to the status of Battery Weenie (Actually dealing with recalcitrant batteries is way easier than dealing with assorted DO's ADO's et al!!! :-)-just kidding.

Anyway, Glenn has these things in hand and will be replacing/renewing batteries in the near future.

As to the role of the DO with the new reel system, I think we have yet to reach consensus on what SOP should now be. As soon as we reach that I'll update the DO manual and log sheets etc., until then it appears we have adopted the following practice... (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!)

• Glider is staged.
• Towplane taxis to 30' or so in front of glider.
• Runner gets the rope and shows the end to the pilot.

(So far so good)

Now, at this point the debate is over:

1. Hook up glider, "take up slack" signal to tow-plane until:
   1. Tow pilot feels/hears the slug go down the tube
   2. Glider lurches forward.
2. Hook up glider
   1. Wing runner pulls out all the rope till slug in position
   2. Normal "Take up slack" command
3. Wing Runner holds slug
   1. Tow pilot taxis forward until slug down tube
   2. Or Wing runner indicates no more!
4. I'm sure there are other I have yet to see, and suggestions that people have yet to make.

   Having had a few days practice, let's AGREE and stick to one method-I don't care which, let's just find one that we (well most) are comfortable with.... don't be shy, let's hear your 2c worth.

   Sigh... trying to organize glider pilots is like trying to herd cats....
   -Dave Brunner

   PP-G Ground School
   

   I have an update for those interested in the Private Pilot-Glider ground school.

   I will be offering a Private Pilot-Glider ground school, beginning on either 9 May or 19 June (depending on your feedback). The course is oriented toward preparing student pilots for the FAA Private Pilot-Glider Knowledge Exam, but will also address topics that will improve flight proficiency and safety for all glider pilots. Location: Av-Ed Flight School, Inc., Leesburg, VA

   Dates:	Tuesdays and Thursdays (eight sessions total)
   	9 May--1 June (OR)20 June--13 July
   Time:	7-10 PM
   Tuition:	$185 (Books and course materials are additional $15-55)

   Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about course content, etc. Registration should be handled directly with me, not Av-Ed.

   Please let me know if you are interested in taking this course. Also indicate your preference for starting date.

   For those of you who prefer to self-study, excellent resources are available at http://www.sharpnet.com/glider ($79, web-based course) and http://www.webexams.com (Free, practice exams only).
   -Joe Parrish

   Safety Meeting
   An excellent turnout of thirty-five members of the Club and one Temporary member attended the 2000 Annual Safety Meeting at FRR on Saturday, April 23. Many thanks to presenters Shane Neitzey and Bill Bentley. Special thanks to Shane for lending his slide projector for the rest of us, and to the budding Steven Spielberg (Bill Gaylord) who taped it (using Dick Otis' camera) so that those to missed the session can catch up.

   The videotape-the only copy!-can be found after in the center desk drawer of the Club's desk in the hangar-along with copies of most of the slides (which were hard to see on the videotape). There is a VCR andTV in the pilot's lounge of the Terminal BUilding to use in viewing the tape, which runs about 1 hr. 20 min. PLEASE ask Reggie or his staff for permission to use the machine as a courtesy!

   Do not remove the tape from the field! It'll remain there for several weeks and then be archived with prior years' tapes.-Jim Kellett

   The following is a review of Shane's Safety presentation. For those who missed the meeting, and for those who were there, this bears repeating!

   Q:What Happens When the Wind Stops? A: You Fall Like a Rock!

   Runway 27 ops. Ceiling about 5000', winds 180 to 270 degrees at 5 to 10kts gusts15, visibility 10, Light rain off and on. At 500' winds were strong from 180 with moderate turbulence. I had given flight instruction to temp members Brian Hall, Alan Hall, Steve Wagner and member Malcolm Gardner. The weather seemed to be deteriorating visibility to the west 5 due to rain.

   Malcolm got some fresh weather, as I requested, with light rain in the forecast and no mention of winds on the surface. After securing myself in the K for another instructional flight with Brian Hall, the winds seemed to be picking up. I thought some of it was coming from the Pawnee's prop wash but the wind sock showed otherwise.

   After hearing "pattern clear", I paused to see if the wind would diminish and thought about aborting the launch. The gust died down, I said "let's see how it goes". Conditions were basically the same as the previous flights up to about 1200' then; I saw signal knob was becoming obscured and the turbulence turned moderate to severe. Both hands on the stick and moaning to maintain position. I opted to release at 1800 agl thinking to land and hanger the glider before the weather got worse.

   Reggie was landing on 27, I called "Kilo Sierra downwind 27 pavement". I called Pawnee 66 to say the weather was looking worse, Kit said "I don't care for the turbulence". I came back with "I agree, it's close to severe, I'm putting it away".

   Right crab downwind, I turned high on base, deployed 1/4 spoiler, saw the Cherokee turn around on the pavement to back taxi, I called, "I'll land on the grass", began turning a high final at about 400' then; the glider felt mushy with the airspeed dropping and descent angle increasing. I closed the spoilers and put the nose down to regain my 60 kts. I never looked at the airspeed indicator, too busy maintaining control.

   With spoilers closed, the pitch attitude of a stall recovery and falling like a rock, I thought we would land before the neighbors fence. I continued to dive in the "sink hole" with hopes to maintain control and use ground effect to zoom over the fence onto the airport property. The runway disappeared from view as we were in the ravine at about 70kts. I was looking for wires between the tree to our left and the house to our right, none seen.

   Now in ground effect, the fence was coming up quickly. I felt a release from the sink hole, kind of like a thrust. Thinking about cars and trucks crossing my path I climbed up to about 50' to a "normal short final" position at about 60 kts and aligned for the pavement then side stepped to the right for a normal landing stopping near the telephone box.

   I was shaking a little, looked to see if I wet myself then apologized to Brian.

   15 to 20 years ago I remember hearing people talking about a sink hole on final to 27 but never experienced it. I believe this phenomena could have been caused be a combination of headwind, down draft and gradient.

   Message; when landing runway 27 in strong winds at FRR, I recommend following a base-leg-ground-track using the road near the threshold for this track. Plan landing on the pavement 1000' down the runway. If things come in threes, I should be through. Please learn from my mistake. Don't look for that hole.
   -Shane Neitzey

   "Come Out with Your Hands Up!"
   The following bizarre episode is excerpted from Bob Collier's Ops Report for Thursday, April 20th. For you disbelivers, I can vouch for its authenticity because your editor WAS THERE!

   ...I'm here to tell you we would have had a few more flights than we did, IF it hadn't been for our show-off instructor tryin' show everybody how you can capture and pick up a black snake which wriggling its way across the big 9 on the runway in front of the 'K' being staged for take off.

   Well, the snake got scared and wriggled for nearest cover... up the wheel well and into the fuselage of the 'K.' Our two intrepid aviators Critchlow/Kellett decided that the snake would just add too much weight and probably mess up the W&B. So, KS was backed off on to the turn-around loop. Screwdrivers went to work on the back seat, and after removal... no snake. "We know he's in there... somewhere."

   Finally somebody spotted it in the fuselage near the tail. People went back to peer in through the rudder cable holes which chased the snake forward. "Don't do that," someone said. "Let's just wait quietly up front here, and maybe he'll crawl out a rudder hole and leave. Better yet, why don't we just put the 'K' back in the hangar and let the next group take care of it?" ^*

   Anyway after a short wait in silence, the snake stuck his head out a rudder hole to see where Kellett was, and of course when any one got any where near him, he'd pull it back in. Finally some one figured out that the snake might make a break for it, if we put him near the tall grass. Sooo, the tail was rotated out over the grass, and lo and behold, out he came, making for the taller grass as fast as he could wriggle. An hour and a half including putting the seat screws back in.
   -Bob Collier

   Unsolicited comment from our President:

   "Unbelievable. Next time this happens, stomp on his head. And I'm not talking about the snake."

   ^* In my opinion the most imaginative solution came from Bill Bentley: "let's rent a mongoose".

   Log this...
   

   • Please welcome to the club two new members.

     Frank Banas is a senior computer systems analyst who fell in love with soaring on a demo flight in Hawaii (I wonder why?) No previous flight experience.

     Frank Banas, Woodbridge, VA, 703-491-2924 703-813-2846 fbanas@home.com

     Lewis Martin is a recently retired radiologist. He has a PPL with SE land & sea, and instrument ratings. He's quickly becoming one of the weekday crowd.

     Lewis K. Martin, II, Millwood, VA, 540-837-1774 lkmar@visuallink.com

     Please help to welcome these new members to the club.
     -John Lewis

   • Daisydings-a keen-eyed objective observer has brought to my attention a half dozen or more reportable dents in the leading edge of the old girl's left wing-none of which has been reported. One such dent comes close to down-time and repair expense. All of these indignities correspond exactly to the hangar door hardware. It doesn't take a snake-handling Phd to identify how these dings have accumulated.

     This plane is a bear to put away. Let's all be careful, especially those who get the responsibility of that 27.6 foot left appendage less you spoil the airfoil of this venerable machine and incur the wrath of those of us who actually enjoy flying her and who reduce the demand for the K.

     
   • In case anyone is interested, I have purchased a "Print-Technik" GR-1000 GPS and data logger suitable for badge and record work. I want to do my 300km leg this summer and I really don't want to mess with cameras and a barograph etc. It will record your flights (position and altitude) and is FAI approved, producing a print out directly from the unit (see the Wings and Wheels site). You can do all the usual turnpoint stuff (it will tell you when you have flown through the sector), GPS readout etc., I'll make it available whenever you want to use it-it can replace the club's barograph functions etc, plus it will be fun to have a print-out of our flights and altitudes. I will make an installation bracket for 081 and wire it into the ship's electrical system. This will make Silver Distance a breeze.
     -Dave Brunner

   • Congratulations to Fred Muller who flew 300 KM (gold distance/duration)and to Greg Ellis who flew 50KM for Silver Distance, on April 30.