Dreadful news coming from the UK today. Matt Wright (Balleka on YouTube) was tragically killed in a mid-air whilst flying his glider this weekend. I believe he collided with a power plane. I'm sure we have all watched some of Matt's videos on YouTube over and over. He will be sorely missed. RIP...

All, I have been looking into having my glider refinished. Casual conversations with other pilots revealed that most think a "normal" refinishing job would cost about $10k. After speaking with Gaines in Georgia, I believe that is wildly optimistic. Gaines charges $60 per hour, and he says the...

Hi This summer season in Australia has seen our first use of FLARM anti-collision system for gliders. http://www.flarm.com/index_en.html and http://www.rf-developments.com/page008.html (the local manufacturer for Australia) It would seem that FLARM is becoming very rapidly accepted here in

Hi All, Recently I had a couple of people ask about position outages on IGCDroid cell phone recordings. I thought I would share what is happening as this is likely relevant to other pilots and other Android cell phone GPS apps. Note: As is often true with Android, not all phone behave the same...

Some of you might be interested to know that the UK just held its 2015 Junior Nationals a few weeks ago. Nearly 70 juniors pilots (yes, SEVENTY) competed in the event. As an American, I nearly fell over in my chair when I saw the article (and photo of the grid). Back in the USA, the SSA doesn't...

I want to replace the tires on my Komet trailer. The original tire size is P165/80 R13, which is now hard to find. The choice seems to be either a Firestone passenger car radial in the correct size or a slightly taller Towmaster made by Greenball. The trailer tire will have a taller but stiffer...

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20111013X31821&ntsbno=WPR12FA010&akey=1 Happened to be looking through the NTSB Database and saw that they updated the report about a month ago.

I have noticed over the years that this glider sells for what seems to be a very low price given that it is a near 50:1 glider. But I notice lately that there are also some for sale on Wings & Wheels with relatively low total time: 320 hours $21k 260 hours $20k 200 hours $15k Other than the...

SSA contest report indicates that 2 gliders made contact on the first day. If the gliders are identified correctly then one continued to win the day and the other returned to the airport missing part of one wing and so far has no log posted. Any more information available? Andy.

Does anyone have any data on whether the iPhone X OLED screen will be more sunlight readable than previous iPhones? The brightness spec looks the same (625cd/m2), but I see no data on the screen reflectance.

SHE SCOOOORRRRREES! Sarah Arnold clobbered the field on the first day at the Women's Worlds in Australia.

Groupflights, a new Python program, now updates club/group web pages to show recent personal flight distance and speed improvements, recent top flights and all-time top flights. Updated daily from WeGlide, OnLineContest, and SkyLines. You can see a working example at...

A simple (EW Microrecorder) is under $800. In todays money, an extra $20 for a badge flight is less than the round of beers you buy. 40 badge flights and you can buy a second one. Pretty soon, you hold a club meeting to decide what to buy next once there are enough recorders. Again...

DG-400 Self Launch For Sale Year: 1986 Serial#: 189 Aircraft time: 1017TT Engine time: 29SMOH Condition: No damage history, very clean inside and out, arguably the best DG-400 in the USA. Standard Equipment: 15m/17m wings DEI engine monitor

Anyone have any knowledge of the three fatality glider crash in Texas? Glider type? Situation? Linwood

Accidents have ocurred when a pilot performs a high speed, low level finish along the centerline of the runway, or over the airport, then fails to control the aircraft properly and crashes. In some cases, these displays have influenced other pilots who do not have the experience or skills...

Saw a Ventus 3 listed in the 18m class and I am wondering how it is looking like? In 15m class we will miss the LS 10, isn't it said? Cheers Michael

I started using K2 LiFeP04 batteries in my glider in 2010. I have had excellent results with these batteries. The electronics, especially the radio, enjoy staying above 12V, and I've never run out of power inflight with them.. This winter after taking some of the instruments out to have them...

When I started soaring on mid 80's, everybody said that soaring is the safest aviation sport, almost safer than most 'real' sports. You can't brake your leg while flying :) Only when you hit the ground :D Though on a first year 4 pilots that I knew got killed with glider. Not a good start. And...

Diana-2, VH-VHZ, English http://www.segelflug.de/cgi-bin/wwwthreads/showthreaded.pl?Cat=1,5&Board=Flugzeuge&Number=68917&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0&vc=1#Post68917 Many good things have been written and read about Diana-2.... but there is a Diana-2 with serial number 3 and the call-sign...