We had the pleasure to take the Arcus on its maiden voyage in the US this last weekend in Immokalee, FL. We made 6 flight for about 6 hours. What a dream ship. You would swear it was a singleplace 15m or 18m. Aileron control and roll rate were great. Even though this ship just flat out goes I...

Howdy Folks, Just wanted to update everyone interested in this contest. Things are forming up very nicely for our contest. As of mid-february: 16 pilots signed up on the SSA website (we are expecting 20-30 total)

I'm glad the article was well received and thanks for the kind words. The point of getting media coverage is to promote our sport. It's easier than you think. It took me 10 minutes to use the "Record" template from the new, revised Soaring Publicity Handbook. I emailed it to the city desk...

Hi, is anyone using Tost E85 release on an L-19 and if so, do you have an STC or 337 for the modification? Thanks, Doug

I have a very good condition volume of the 1963 edition "the worlds sailplanes" which is written in English, German and French. As an added bonus it has an SSA pamphlet from the same vintage in perfect condition as a book mark. You cannot buy this in stores.... Thinking $100 OBO for it. Email...

So I would like to start flying my DG-300 with water; but the previous owner tells me that the bags weren't used for about the last 10 years. Rather than take a chance on them, I'd like to replace them. My local DG dealer (whom I do appreciate) is saying its about $1000USD per bag from the...

Just got one of these Apple gizmos and I'm curious what apps other glider guiders are using. So far I've found some nice non-aviation weather and mapping apps, so now I'm looking for a good NOTAM and aviation wx brief app. How about SPOT, XCskies, DrJack? Kirk 66

http://ssa.org/members/badgesandrecords/RecordTable.asp 448.24mi Fritz Seger 8/29/1987 Not to diminish Fritz Seger's fantastic flight but, I would have thought this record would have been surpassed on some of the ridges in the east by now. Is going for this record unappealing to a lot of pilots?

I've come up with what may become a new pilot relief product. It's not for sale yet, but I'm at the point where I'm trying to get some market feedback to see if there is enough interest to invest further. I've been using prototypes in my Ventus this past year with excellent success. For now I'm...

The Feb 2010 AOPA Pilot magazine has an article about two pilots rescued after an airplane crash in Idaho. Each had a SPOT but neither unit was well secured; fortunately, they were mobile enough to dig through the wreckage to find and activate them. A medical helicopter landed on the take off...

A used in good condition 3" ASI in knots, speed range up to 160kts. Thanks, Brad

I need help with getting a Colibri logger to communicate with an IPAQ. I can get the Colibri to send data to the IPAQ to work with WinPilot and I can get WinPilot to send a declaration to the Colibri, but I can not get any software to work to allow me to download a flight from the Colibri to the...

After stowing the engine on a self-launch I heard a high pitched whine. I turned off the circuit breakers.. The problem is now I can not extend the engine. The circuit breaker will pop if it is reset. Any ideas on how to extend a stuck engine? ( other than cutting a hole in the side of the fuselage)

This year America's cup racing is more like soaring than sailing. The second, and probably last race of the series is on online . Check it out.

So as not to redesign the wheel, has anybody made tow out gear for a Blanik L-13. My tie down is at the opposite end of the runway from the normal launch end and I would like to use something other than a rope and wing walker. I would appreciate any descriptions, plans, drawings or photos of...

This article, originally in Soaring (Feb 2002) was updated recently to include information on the Trig TT21 transponder. You can download it from http://tinyurl.com/yg76qo9 It will also be available on the Soaring Safety Foundation website later this month: http://soaringsafety.org/

Trying to do some work on my ship. Does anyone that reads this forum have experience in the best way to remove gelcoat? I've got an area thats too big to hand sand on the wing that needs some work. A friend suggested I buy a water sander that continuously feeds water to the sander (similar to a...

Worldwide, what exemptions from transponder equipage apply to glider tow planes (assuming built and certified with an electrical system)?. How typical is it that tow planes are not equipped with a mode C or mode S transponder? Andy

Updated US Airspace files for the charting cycle effective February 11, 2010 are now available in the airspace area of the Worldwide Soaring Turnpoint exchange. The same files are also available on my website at www.soaringdata.info or at www.xmission.com/~lalley/aviation.

I have the Technical Manual 4th Edition dated from february 1977. Due to the last Technical Note refering to the inspection of the Control Bridge, the Technical Manual has been updated. So, I suppose that the 5th edition has been published. Has someone a copy of the document under electronic file...