Hi all, First post here (at least in 20 years). I'm a US citizen with private power and sailplane ratings. I'm contemplating retirement in a few years. One possible plan is to spend several years of it as an expat somewhere the cost of living is less than the USA. Parts of Europe, Asia,...

Can someone explain how you are supposed to use the SSA sailplane tracker? It seems way overly complex. You should have the option just to zoom and pan to an area of interest and see all the live tracks. However it seems you have to figure out what airport the pilot took off from and what contest...

A questions that I should know the answer to but don't...in a thermal, all things being equal, will a 15m glider and an 18m glider with the same wing loading climb at the same rate? Thanks Chris

Can anyone recommend the Beringer disc brake kit for Ventus, Discus or Schemmp-Hirth gliders? I'm seriously considering retrofitting my D2A after a nearly disastrous run off the runway up at Ely ... partially due to fading brake (plenty of pilot error problems too...) I'm especially interested in...

When I went to upgrade it automatically upgraded to 8.01. Now it appear to work fine so i had no concern. Today i had my first flight with it but after landing and shutting off the device just like I always have . When I got home there was NO flight file to transfer to OCL ! Now i did the upgrade...

I'm trying to find a good lubricant for assembly, available in Europe. Any ideas? Currently using regular vaseline.

Kawa is leading the two seat 20 meter class at his second world championship in three weeks. Of course he won 15 meter at the first one. There is no doubt he’s the greatest....ever.

A short while ago my daughter was considering joining a local Civil Air Patrol chapter, while attending the meetings with her I began to be interested in Gliding. I'm in NJ. If someone could help me with a few basic questions, I'd really appreciate it: 1. What is the average ground speed of a...

I pulled my Cobra up the Sierras to Sparks, Nv and then blew the right tire (6� of tread separated and took the fender off too). Tire and wheel were Not even warm. Put on the spare and drove the final 20 miles. Next morning I jacked up one wheel and took 2 tires and rims in and got 6 ply trailer...

so I made the ultimate dumb move - I updated a working IT device right before I went to a contest. It has not worked since......... To be fair - I did not update the firmware correct off the bat (should have ready the Manuel better) Now - on the ground it looks like it will work fine - as soon...

This is from early March, so it's likely old news to some here, but in a new policy letter the FAA has eased the requirement for a separate STC for every model of aircraft. This should have happened years ago! New FAA Policy: http://tinyurl.com/FAA-ADSB-Policy News Article:...

Went to update to the latest version of PF--3.40--and one item in the release note made me hesitate: "Known issues: - Mode C targets at own altitude may be suppressed." (http://www.flarm.com/powerflarm/updates/3.40/final/Release_Notes_3_40.txt) My non-engineer brain assumes that this is related...

My Avionic trailer has leaf springs and no shocks and the rhythmic ass end sway that develops at higher speeds encourages me to keep the top speed at 60-65 mph. That speed is just fine with me except when interstate traffic if flying by at 80 mph. In that case I feel that I'm something of a...

This is currently my favorite soaring video found online just for the fun-factor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rCtnTXo3SE What's yours and why?

I recently found some interesting articles concerning AIR Glide S and it's inertial platform in particular....

Hello XCSoar users. I love my XCSoar/Streak combo in my glider and I installed a second Streak in the Pipistrel Sinus. In the Sinus there is no computer/GPS to feed the Streak and so the XCSoar relies on the internal GPS of the Streak. With the solo setup, I never see winds. I've flown...

Hi, I'm gaining knowledge in ADS-B over the years. But I can't say I'm an expert. I could use some feedback from some of the extremely knowledgeable people that monitor this group. I sell Trig TT22 transponders - which are FAA approved for ADS-B when used with an approved GPS source. But...

I'm surprised this spin thread hasn't produced more discussion of the flat spin. One poster told us about getting into a flat spin after several revolutions of a "normal" spin" at Minden when the Puch went flat (nose on horizon). The poster thought it was kind of thrilling, until he applied...

The value of the US dollar compared to the Euro has dropped 24% during the past year. Therefore the price of sailplanes manufactured in Europe has risen a corresponding 24%. In fact, a similar impact is being felt in all countries outside Europe. Will this end the purchase of new sailplanes by...

A given glider is at level flight, IAS= 100 knots.After a pull-up, will it achieve more height gain with 100 liters (100 kgs) of ballast than with empty ballast???? Réjean