Our beloved Pawnee 90866 is back home and lookin' good. The sky is blue, thermals abound, all systems are go, and everything appears to be working well. It didn't take long for a few people to get multi-hour flights. And the spring check-out list is dwindling. Folks are back in the air. But I must say, it was a long hard winter. As for the Pawnee, we now await the artistry of the Pawnee decoration committee. In the meantime though, keep in mind that we just spent an LS-1 on getting it put into great shape. Be sure to wipe it down after flying each day. Let's try to keep the areas around the exhaust and under the belly clean. Yeah, that takes a bit of crawling, but in the long term it's worth it.

I hasten to add that our fleet is looking better than ever. Not only is the new K a great addition-I am personally waiting for my first flight in it-but the Grob is also in great shape. New canopy seals and seatbelts are proving well worth the investment, both in safety and in noise. This gives us two great ships in which to train. And it gives you students some decisions to make. Which ship do you train in? When George, Geoff and I joined the club, we were awed by the beauty of the ASK-21, and lusted after it for our training. But about the second day on the field, it was pointed out to us that we could get one training flight a day in the K or 8 flights a day in Miss Daisy, our 2-33. We quickly opted for the flights, and our training was exclusively in Miss Daisy. Not as pretty as the K, nor as agile nor as high performance, but yet Miss Daisy provided us with an excellent training platform, including spins. Clearly, availability is important when doing your training. Another consideration is whether you want to stick strictly with one ship for your training, or will you fly whichever ship is available. The latter sounds good because it gets you up in the air quicker, but the differences between ships are sufficient to present challenges to low-time pilots, and jumping between them may lengthen your training period. You might want to master one ship before moving on to the next. A good strategy is to get yourself up to PPL-G standards on one ship before beginning to fly the other. Some people feel that the K is a better trainer, and there may be some truth to that. But both ships are docile and forgiving, and both serve well as trainers.

As you become more advanced, don't forget that the club has the Sprite. The Sprite is a great transition ship to get you into a single-place and somewhat higher performance ship, and can often be kept for more than an hour. Get time in it as soon as you are sufficiently advanced. As our club matures, more members are getting their own ship-or joining consortia. This is a great thing to do. You'll all find those booming days when you really don't want to come down just because your hour is up. Or you'll find ridge days where you can cut straight lines down the ridge at maneuvering speed, and you'll not want the restrictions of the club ships. Ownership is a great way to find out more about an airplane and the FAA than you ever wanted to know. But it makes you a better pilot too. Several single-place ships are quite ideal for low-time pilots, and even pre-PPL-G pilots. The venerable 1-26 is an excellent starter ship. Easy to fly and quite safe, it is a great ship in which to hone your skills and begin your cross-country adventures. Joining a syndicate for aircraft ownership can even prove less expensive than renting club equipment. You'll find plenty of literature on the subject of ownership, even on the club web site.

When I started flying, I lusted after my own two-place ship so that I could take people for rides. But all the books say you should buy only a one-place ship as your personal glider-certainly, at least, your first personal glider. Well, I'm here to tell you that they are right. You'll find that the greatest pleasures of soaring are generally found in solo flight, gaggling with birds and other sailplanes. They are not found in a two-place ship, steeply banked in a honkin' thermal with your good friend barfing his guts out in the front seat. Most non-glider-pilot friends really want sled rides, not big thermal rides. And the club ships suffice quite well for that. And your glider-pilot friends would probably prefer flying alone in a single-place ship. Issue settled.

In the final analysis, the members of our club are what makes it work. Everyone puts in sweat equity, and we all share in the benefits. Keep close check on the roster, and be sure to show for duty when assigned. Take the time to get trained in all facets of our operations. Ask for help. Our brand new members get a few weeks reprieve on the duty. But soon the Rostermeister will catch you. It's just part of the sport. Beyond assigned duties, I can suggest to you new members that you help others assemble and disassemble gliders, and that you go on a retrieve or two. It's important to learn these skills, and it's required for your rating.

So, come one, come all. Flying season is open. But be careful and fly safely.
-- George Hazelrigg, Jr

SKILL! What is skill? It is kill with a letter 's' in front of it. Remove the 's' and your left with an unhappy ending. OK boys and girls, it's time to review: group dynamics and situational awareness-key components in our ability to fly safely. If you need to refresh your memory, now is the time to go back and reread those articles. SKILL! What is skill? It is kill with a letter 's' in front of it. Remove the 's' and your left with an unhappy ending. This month, let's examine the concept of "skill" as it applies to what we do. First and foremost, skill is not an absolute value. It is not a question of having or not having skill although you must have some basic skills in order to safely fly. It is more a floating decimal that meanders all over the place as we acquire more knowledge, training and experience. Webster's defines skill as "great ability or proficiency; expertness that comes from training, practice, etc." Well that sort of sounds absolute, but one only needs to look at gymnastic competitions to see that skilled athletes have varying degrees of skill that judges would have you believe can be measured down to a thousandth of a point. So apparently, we can have below average skill, average skill and perfect skill (10.000) and anything in between. More importantly, on any given day our individual level of skill may be different from the previous day based on our physical and mental condition. And according to Webster, skill is obviously affected by our level of training, practice and proficiency. In other words, "use it or lose it and practice, practice, practice" if you want to achieve and maintain high levels of skill.

SKILL! What is skill? It is kill with a letter 's' in front of it. Remove the 's' and your left with an unhappy ending.

For all of us, flying skill is something to be constantly pursued. It is not an end result. Flying skill is something to be acquired and then maintained. Professional pilots call it maintaining proficiency. For many of us in the club, we are not able to get out to the airport as often as we would like. And while we would like to think we have a certain level of skill, we might not be all that proficient depending on the last time we slipped our earthly bond. So have you figured it out? What the 's' stands for in skill? I knew you'd get it. The 's' stands for SAFETY. Always think safety in the pursuit of flying skill.

SKILL! What is skill? It is kill with a letter 's' in front of it. Remove the 's' and your left with an unhappy ending.
-- Stan Pawlowski

When our Editor asked me to write a few lines for the Newsletter, my first thought was what to title the section. Should I call it: Tow Lines, View from the Front, Counting Your Tows, Twinkle Tows, Tow Jams? Probably "Untitled" would be best.

During the start of the season it is best to remind everyone that to protect the club's, and the tow pilot's assets, NEVER let yourself get high enough on tow that you can look down on the tow plane. NEVER EVER let yourself get high on the tow when you are close to the ground, lest your contented tow pilot turns into a sneering executioner with their hand on the Guillotine handle. We have over a dozen gliders in the club, but only one tow plane (and if I'm in the tow plane...).

When the tow plane taxis in front of the glider for rope hook up, the tow pilot watches to see if we get the fingers that tell us what altitude is desired. The less said on the radio, the more we can listen for other traffic calls. Also we watch the hookup to note if the glider has a CG hook, and is one of the ships that require rapid acceleration to get safe control speed. Should the glider be a "nose dragger", then we know to apply power more slowly to avoid banging the tailwheel on the ground. Of course, it is entertaining to watch the wingrunner sprinting great distances on those more gentle takeoffs. You see, we aren't just looking at your funny hats. As the tow plane taxies forward reeling out the rope, our view in the left hand mirror is limited until almost 200 feet in front of the glider, so if the wingrunner needs to signal to us while close in, it is best to move behind the wing closer to the glider's fuselage to catch our eye.
-- Bill Bentley

Good Reason to Make a Wide Circle Around Mueller's Sailplane-There could be an armed pilot locked behind a reinforced cockpit door at the controls of your next airline flight. The TSA said last week the first class of 48 "federal flight deck officers" were to have completed their week long training program on Saturday. Those pilots would then be authorized to carry a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol into the cockpit to defend against would-be hijackers, terrorists and other pernicious ne'er-do-wells. During the week, the pilots learned how to use the gun and also studied defensive tactics to foil anyone intent on taking over the plane. Graduates will need annual recertification of those skills.
-- AVflash, 4/21

Having completed a little over 1 year in performing annuals and conformity inspections on club gliders I would like to share some of the discoveries that I made. I found that a lack of understanding of "what the words mean" created a situation where some of the aircraft that I inspected were "out of license." The annual inspection had expired even though the aircraft had an inspection within the prior year.

§41.409 Inspections Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section no person may operate an aircraft unless, within the preceding 12 calendar months, it has had - An annual inspection in accordance with part 43 of this chapter and has been approved for return to service by a person authorized by §43.7 or this chapter; <8A>

Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section do not apply to - An aircraft that carries a special flight permit, a current experimental certificate, or a provisional airworthiness certificate.

What this means. (A)If you have a Standard Certificate of Airworthiness you come under paragraph (a) and you must have an annual inspection done by a mechanic who holds an Inspection Authorization or by a Certified Repair Station. The logbook entry should state in words to this effect "An Annual Inspection was preformed and the aircraft (glider) is approved for return to service." Any entry lacking the words "Annual" and some language indicating "approved for return to service" does not constitute the required verbiage and after the twelfth calendar month from the last correct inspection entry the aircraft is "out of license" and in violation of part 91 if flown.

(B)If you have an Experimental Airworthiness Certificate you come under the Special Certificate of Airworthiness provisions and paragraph (b) applies, you do not need an Annual Inspection. The operations limitations of the Special Certificate of Airworthiness that you received however, requires that a conformity inspection be conducted every 12 calendar months. This inspection maybe conducted by any Airframe Mechanic. The logbook entry should say something like "Inspection conducted under Part 43, appendix D and the aircraft is approved for return to service."

Gliders are strange creatures to a lot of wrench twister outside of the soaring fraternity. They are missing something that A & P mechanics have been taught to look for from the first day they entered mechanic school. Where the heck did they put the motor? When was the last time you changed the oil? How can I do a compression check when I can't find the spark plugs? That one over there is in the experimental category so this one must be too.

I have seen a number of gliders in the Standard Category without the annual inspection language. The inspecting mechanic held an Inspection Authorization but used the conformity inspection language. The inspection is the same work to the mechanic or inspector. I have seen gliders that were a bit over the twelve calendar months (a bit like slightly pregnant) since the last annual inspection and were flying up until the time I inspected them. Names are withheld to protect the dumb or guilty.

Aside from FAA Inspectors who take a rather dim view of operating aircraft that are un airworthy and not have the required inspections is by definition un airworthy, your insurance policy requires that the glider be in airworthy condition for the insurance to be valid. It's all in the language
-- Eric Litt, ATP, A&P, IA, & Future Glider Pilot

As many of you now, I have been involved with wind tunnel testing and subsequent simulation development of the 1902 Wright Glider (as was described in Soaring magazine a few months ago), the 1903 Wright Flyer, and 1911 Wright Model B. The testing and the sims have been done to support Ken Hyde's "Wright Experience" team from Warrenton, Va-one of the groups building a replica to be flown in December at Kitty Hawk. In his relentless effort to build the most authentic replica, Ken and his team have become Wright Historians.

Aside from building and flying the 03 Flyer, Ken has also done a great job of uncovering the legacy of the Wrights as outstanding engineers and aviators. To bring this to a wide audience, Bihrle Applied Research is teaming with Ken to produce a flight simulation game that will mesh historical highlights, turn-of-the-century scenery, and accurate flight performance and handling. We are targeting both aviation enthusiasts and gamers. The challenge of the game will be to... learn to fly... an unstable aircraft with the unconventional controls the Wrights implemented (two joysticks!) and with no instruments.

Trust me, it would be nice to have an airspeed indicator on these things. You have to break the records the Wrights established before moving on to other aircraft, the Flyer, the Model B. Terrain will include Kitty Hawk and Fort Meyer. Special features will include a terrain dependent wind model (ridge soaring!), mil-spec turbulence, collision model, gear model, structural load limits.

Yeah... when we say accurate... we mean it.

For those of you who are interested, we have posted some screen shots and a registration box on our web site. http://www.bihrle.com/WrightFlyerInfo.html#mid

This will be updated as development progresses. Please forward the link to anyone you know who might be interested and if you have any questions, let me know.
-- Jenn Player

"I am most anxious for the soaring season to begin, so I can start the next phase of my aerial photography endeavors. One of my biggest issues, is finding, scaling, and printing photos from my ever growing (in size and megapixels) collection, as well as providing slide shows to admiring audiences.

Recently, I found a FREE FREE FREE photo program from our friends a Kodak, which rapidly does the things my current program doesn't. Indexing, cropping to standard sizes, scaling for email or printing, printing multiple photos on one sheet of photo paper, built in email program, as well as on-line processing (which I am not a big fan of, until they match the Price Club's 20 cents a print price).

And THAT'S NOT ALL!!! It's available for both you PC pukes, and Mac aficionados (those of you not on OS-10, which has the superior iPhoto program-also free).

The down side is you need the latest Internet Explorer, a program I don't normal use, to download the free software-but downloading IE was a small price to pay for such a nice tool I desperately needed.

On another note, I'm often asked which digital camera I like and would recommend. I hate to answer this question, because the answer is "It Depends"-On what you want to do, how much money you have, what feature you like, what brand you like etc.

Personally, for heavy medal photography I like my Nikons-both film and digital. But for travel my personal preference is for Canon. There are hundreds of other good film and digital cameras on the market-as I said this is my personal preference. In the past, I've been reluctant to recommend the two Cannons I have. I love their size, quality, feature set. But I'm not so hip on their film/pixel size. I own the Canon Elph II, a cigarette sized, all metal Advanced Photo System (APS) film camera with a nice zoom and crystal sharp lens. But the APS size film is not for serious photographers, as an 8X10 size print (before cropping) is about the limit. I also have the Canon Digital Elph-a slightly larger version of the same camera, same features. But at only 2.1 megapixels, it has about the same printing limitations.

Enter the new Canon Digital Elph with 4.0 megapixels. I don't have one yet, but I think this might be my answer for a travel camera. If you buy one ($500) let me know how you like it. http://www.kodak.com/go/EasySharerd

-- Richard the Photographer Otis

Reggie's has recently become concerned with the potential for some to get shocked when removing the runway lights. As a result, we have a new procedure in place for removing the runway lights. We now are required to shut off the circuit breaker that provides power to the lights before removing them. Obviously we need to turn the power back on, and test the lights, at the end of each soaring day. The breaker for the runway lights is located on the west side of the old hanger building. If you are standing with you back to the east wall of the Randolph Macon hanger, (you will be standing on the paved surface between the hangers) you will notice five electrical meters on the west side of the old hanger. The one furthest to the Right is connected to a panel box directly below it. There are five breakers in this box. The one on the far Right is a 10 AMP and it is marked "Remote Control" in pencil. Turn this breaker off to shut the power to the landing lights. Remove the landing lights as normal. Please be sure to check the landing lights for proper function after turning the breaker back on at the end of the day. This is done by keying the mike of a radio set to 123.0 seven times. -Chris Williams

Chris I think this is a good thing if it helps reduce the shock hazard. On the other hand it looks like a human factors "incident" waiting to happen:

1. When (not if) one day we leave the field without resetting the breaker, some incoming night-flyer will be mighty pissed off. That's very bad, and if there's weather involved, an accident scenario. 2. Whoever's resetting the circuit breaker will have to "know" that no one is putting the light back in at that instant. So if someone happens by and unknowingly decides to "help" by resetting it, not good.

3. If we rely on the radio check to make sure we did it, it will happen sooner or later that the DO will forget because the radios are already put away (out of sight).

I don't know a good solution but one possibility might be to make a pennant with wooden clothes-pin and clip it to the breaker or something. Like a "lock-out" tag that the electricians use.There should also be a visible place in the hangar where the pennant will live when it's not on the breaker box. Don't go home without it in place. Or some variation on that theme.

Just wondering... I can spot this trouble since I know myself only too well!
-- Judah Milgram

Definitely there should be a red "lock-out" tag for the breaker when it is pulled. My thought is the lock-out tag should be stored in the Duty Officer file box in its own file when not in use. Since the D.O.s are now going to be responsible for ensuring the proper operation of the lights after they reinstall them, I don't think they will need any additional reminders to reset the breaker and remove the lock-out tag. However, it is just as easy to have a second yellow tag in the file box which can be attached say to the computer or the D.O.s finger, which says: " Field Landing Light Circuit Breaker Pulled. Ensure breaker reset at the completion of glider operations. Ensure landing lights work by keying radio 7 times on 123.0."

-- Stan Pawlowski

DOs should put the red tag reminder in their car while they on the field. That way if they forget to adjust the lights, the tag will be in the car to remind them. Make it large rubber chicken?, for extra emphasis.
-- Richard Freytag

The preceding dialog was extracted from email, of which there will probably be more, in hopes of re-emphasizing the subject. We once had a Men's Room key problem in my office which I cleverly resolved by attaching a 12 inch 2X4to the keychain-it lasted a week before some absent minded delivery person put it in his backpack!

Company Offers Shares In Classic Cubs.

You've heard of buying shares in business jets and new piston airplanes. But what about classics? A new company, Time Pieces, is offering shares in a timeless Piper J-3 Cub. For $3,750, a pilot receives 50 hours over a 24- month period in the Cub, and this one-time fee includes insurance, hangar, maintenance, and scheduling of the airplane. A monthly management fee is applied against the investment, the balance of which is returned to the shareholder after the 24 months are up. Each Cub will be shared by 10 part owners. The first is in place at Mount Comfort Airport in Indianapolis, scheduled to begin flying in May. Another Cub is looking for a home to begin flying from in mid-July. Time Pieces spokesperson Ginger Gordon intends to add aircraft in four Midwest locations over the next 12 to 16 months. For more, see ( http://www.iflytimepieces.com ).
-- AOPA ePilot

I had a nasty little surprise last Sunday while checking out the lights on the ASK-21 trailer-a 5ft black snake almost ended up in my lap as I sat on the wing in the tall grass behind the trailer!
-- Kolie Lombard

I had an awful big surprise last Sunday while I was checking out a long trailer for Mouse Hors d'oeuvres-I almost landed in the lap of a large white mammal resting in the tall grass hunting preserve.

-- Elaphe O. Obsoleta

As the club Safety Officer, I hereby decree to all snakes operating within the FRR class E airspace and airport environs that they are subject to FAA regulations as well as the SSC Operations Manual. They will immediately cease and desist from interfering with legitimate glider operations or suffer our unrestrained and relentless consternation.
-- Stan Pawlowski

• The following two items prove one of the following theories:

  1-Hope Springs Eternal, or

  2-Doing the Same Thing Over and Over and Expecting Different Results is a legitimate Definition of Insanity. I am looking for two partners to join in the PW-5. This "world class" glider is in excellent condition, and has always been hangared. It has under 50 hours, and has no damage history (NDH.) It has factory instruments plus a Microair transceiver with push-to-talk switch on the stick, a Borgelt B40 electric audio variometer with total energy compensation. It also has a standard Airworthiness Certification, with form 337s (FAA approval) for the transceiver and vario. A National parachute chute and a professional custom aluminum trailer rounds out the package. I will also consider an offer to buy it outright. $22,500.-Greg Ellis 703-978-4217.

• For those interested in a less expensive set of wings, Mark and I are still looking for another partner in 081.

  While she doesn't have all of the goodies offered by Greg's PW-5, 081 is one fine flying machine with her own set of goodies.
  -- Phil Jordan and Mark Ballinger

• In response to last issue's item on UAV Avoidance-

  I send out a newsletter at work called "UAV News". Lately I have been sending 2-3 a day. I keep an archive of the those articles too. I should put them on a website for people to look at and download. The newsletter was an attempt by me to increase the knowledge of my fellow engineers about the programs we are working on. Most did not know what the acronym UAV meant. Now it is a daily news item. I have a thousand hours at the controls of different UAV's and have flown formation on them as a chase pilot. They are not souped up model planes any more, but flying computers and black boxes. The issue of the FAA rule "See and Avoid" has been ongoing for 15 years. The use of auto avoidance devices will lead to the UAV coming out of Restricted Airspace, and being used for commercial purposes.
  -- Mark Ballinger

• In a series of meetings last week I was seated next to a long time colleague whose older brother was once Mayor of Chicago. Must have been quite a feat as he is not named Daley. My friend says closing Meigs Field is just a long time desire to fulfill a campaign promise to turn the field into a park-nothing else.

  AOPA's Phil Boyer, who has been among the most prominent pro-Meigs combatants, asked for the Congressional aviation subcommittee's direct intervention. He even showed video of Daley shaking hands on a deal to preserve the airport and promising that he wouldn't use the Chicago TFR as justification to close the field.

  If it wasn't such an egregious abuse of power and such a serious issue to General Aviation, it would remind me of chickens taking a dust bath in a country dirt road.

  Hopefully in the end the Feds will see it differently.

• Philadelphia Funeral Home Sign:

  "WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH
  1000 AL QUAEDA TERRORISTS
  THAN WITH A SINGLE AMERICAN"
  

• On each Johnson and Johnson rectal thermometer there is a statement in tiny print:

  "Every rectal thermometer made by Johnson and Johnson is personally tested".

  How would you like to land THAT job?