On 4/28/2015 9:52 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:
WOW! Very well said, Evan.

+2

Bob W.
- - - - - -

On 4/28/2015 9:09 AM, Tango Eight wrote:
On Monday, April 27, 2015 at 8:32:13 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
Am I missing something?
Yes. You (and a few others) are missing (intentionally or not, I don't
know) that VFR into IMC in soaring flight is ***100% avoidable***.

The guy that gets swallowed by cloud or found himself above a solid
overcast has either failed to learn the meteorology appropriate to the
conditions he's flying in or willfully chosen to continue flying despite
the signs of developing hazards. That goes for rapidly descending
cloudbase associated with storms as well as all the things that can go
wrong in wave systems. Yeah, I've been swallowed by cloud. Yes, I had
plenty of warning (clouds were forming and dissipating all over, the risk
was 100% obvious) although the actual event (lennie formation) was
astoundingly sudden.

Blind flying instruments and piloting skills extend a modicum of
emergency capability to those who willfully or ignorantly venture into
very avoidable conditions where the prospect of forced IMC is real. If
your primary objective is safety, then you forgo the adventure, perhaps
even deal with the inconvenience of a landing away from your intended
destination to avoid developing hazards. If instead you want to twist
the dragon's tail a little, then by all means arm up -- but arm up on the
most important stuff first (that would be meteorology), have a plan for
when things go bad (gyros and know how to use them) and please don't
think of yourself as a victim of anything other than your own judgement
when mother nature treats you roughly.

-Evan Ludeman / T8

-- Dan Marotta