Hello RAS, As some of you know I had a great adventure in August, thanks to Greg Cole's offer to fly his Sparrowhawk at the 13.5 Meter Super Regionals in Moriarty, NM. I wrote up a really long report on the experience for my clubs newsletter and have reprinted it on my SSA Member Blog. You can...

I am trying to reduce the wind noise in my Duo Discus. I've tried adhesive-backed foam and weather-stripping with limited success. Anybody have a "Perfect" or even "pretty good" solution to getting the canopy to fit tight enough to be quiet but loose enough to open and close without too much...

I don't care what side your on, but this shutdown took down the access to Skew-T data. This blows... Rucsoundings.noaa.gov just takes you to the govt shutdown page Anyone know a skew-t site that still works? Peter

Volkslogger for sale. Comes with battery cables or power supply. Newer design (IGC/RJ45 connector). Last calibrated in 2011. Very reliable. $400 incl shipping.

We are looking for a right 2-33 wing in good shape. Anyone have one laying around? Thanks, John

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainsafety/2013-10-07/gliders-might-improve-pilots-upset-flying-skills Gliders Might Improve Pilots’ Upset Flying Skills Pilots seeking to improve their manual flying skills should consider trying gliders, according to Captain Sarah Kelman. The former women’s...

Looks like the 2014 season has started one week early. According to the published rules, the last day of the 2013 season was suppose to be the 2nd Monday of October, not the first Monday. Ramy

I know that a 45 degree bank is useful for flying small circles and staying in small thermals, but is there something special about a 45 degree bank compared to say a 50 degree bank? For example, does the designer intend for the glider to do something special at 45 degrees? Is the glider designed...

The World's Vintage Sailplanes - 1908-45 by Martin Simons I have just received 70 new (never sold) copies of this wonderful book - in perfect condition - complete with full-color paper slip-cover and full-color 30 x 20 inch poster. They were printed in 1986 but never sold. These are a great...

Seems like very few people in the U.S. have heard of it, but the most effective prescription med for airsickness that I have found is something called "Scopace". It is scopolamine in tablet form. Same drug as in the very expensive anti-nausea patches. Much cheaper in tablet form and the dose is...

I took Burt up on this offer in February of 2013. I wasn't far enough along to finish my checkride then (or maybe I didn't allow enough time in Marfa). Still, it was a great experience and I learned a lot from Burt. He runs a first class operation and wants to help you become a safe and...

This links to article about a legit survey conducted by the British Airline Pilots’ Association. http://www.balpa.org/News-and-campaigns/News/HALF-OF-PILOTS-HAVE-FALLEN-ASLEEP-WHILE-FLYING.aspx Have you ever fallen asleep while flying a glider? Details?

Amazing wave yesterday, the best defined I have ever seen running for several hundred miles north and south. I had to work and had to just look at it from the ground. Several gliders flew out of Morgan. 2KA covered 600 km with a launch after 3 pm at 164 kph (102 mph). Hopefully we will get more...

Hey have any if you been able to get the new direct claim functionality to work I the latest version of Seeyou? It gives me a place to enter a username, but there is no place to enter a password. Am I missing something??? Peter

Hi, I just received my first batch of SPOT Gen 3 units. They will be in short supply for a while. I have a few in stock that have not been sold yet. You can see details and order he http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/spot.htm Good Soaring, Paul Remde

Yesterday, we released the new XCSoar major version 6.7. The biggest change was the port to Kobo e-book readers, a new hardware platform with perfect sunlight readability. http://www.xcsoar.org/discover/2013/09/30/xcsoar-6-dot-7-released.html XCSoar is a free glide computer that runs on Android,...

FYI, the exe appears to be faulty... ;-) Sean

The FAA has published a 2013 version of the Glider Flying Handbook, as a PDF. You can find it he http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aircraft/glider_handbook/media/faa-h-8083-13a.pdf It also looks like nobody's mentioned it yet here on ras. The moment after I...

We had a soaring encampment in Lake Placid, NY. We had a complaint from the Adirondack Park Rangers about a sailplane ridge soaring a particular set of mountains. The Ranger noted that the sailplane was in danger to hikers walking the ridge line. What FAR's allow the sailplane to stay a loft using...

The election for a member of the US Rules Committee and the annual pilot opinion poll is now open. Pilots on the US seeding list (i.e. have flown a contest in the last 3 years) are eligible to vote/participate. Access the ballot and survey at...