Kempton Izuno also wrote recently an article for Soaring whereby he
found himself in a potentially catastrophic situation, without being
the subject of any personal attack as Jim Skydell was (including
impugning his qualification as a Director of SSA and commenting on his
wife "buying" him a new plane). The emphasis is on "personal". I guess
the difference was that Kempton came out intact, whereby Jim lost his
plane. A dialogue about the accident would have been more
constructive without the attacks against the author. Perhaps it is the
result of too much time spent in the sun under a plastic canopy, but I
did not read in the articles any attempt at passing responsibility to
his instructor. Skydell wrote about what was absolutely an admission
of a breakdown in his decision making in an out-of-the-ordinary
situation, hoping that his experience might open other pilot's eyes and
dissipate in us any latent complacency.

Anyone thinking of submitting an article for the magazine which could
be the least bit controversial should think twice, unless he / she has
a thick enough skin to withstand the firestorm to come. Yikes ! Of
course, the same people -- often anonymous -- who slammed the author
might also perhaps complain about the blandness and sameness of
articles in Soaring, and also possibly never make contributions of
their own to the magazine. Just a guess.

Cheers anyhow, Charles V.