Adam wrote:
And I cannot explain the Junior...it sits on the floor of a hangar
collecting dust all season. I'd be surprised if it logged 10 hrs TTA.

How is it used? My club has two Juniors and which get well used. I'd put
that down to the following:

- all new solo pilots get booted out of the two seaters after 5 flights
and a couple of check rides and are converted to the Juniors. That
said, at first they'll be expected to take a check ride each day
before flying a Junior and the instructors will decide if the weather
is suitable. Once they're judged competent in them, the Junior pilots
are expected to fly within their capabilities on much the same basis
as any other solo pilot.

- we are a strong XC club, so Junior pilots are expected to work on
getting their Bronze and Silver badges. A lot of us did all three
Silver legs in a Junior. I did height and duration while working on
Bronze and got distance as soon as I had my Bronze XC endorsement.

For non-UK readers, the Bronze endorsement includes field selection,
field landing and navigation exercises.

- the club culture assumes that solo pilots will become XC pilots and
will work up the qualification ladder, first to their 100 km diploma
and then on to Gold and Diamond badges, so there's a clear path to
increasing skills and achievements for new pilots to follow.

- we also have a Pegase 90 and two Discii. These are run like a
syndicate with about 12 members. Single Seat Scheme members get a cost
discount in return for buying pre-paid blocks of air time and can book
the gliders for a day at a time with the expectation that they will go
XC in them. Other pilots can use them if they haven't been claimed by
Scheme members.

Maybe some variation of our approach would improve the Junior utilization?

I should add that I enjoy flying Juniors. They're nice handling gliders
that thermal well and spin nicely. I normally fly them during the winter
to maintain proficiency while my Libelle stays tucked up in its trailer.


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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