Why not put an audible variometer in every glider?

Here is something that you might be able to do to improve glider safety for everybody (yourself included).

Buy yourself a brand new variometer (you deserve it!). Give your old "perfectly good audible variometer" to a club, a commercial training operation, or one of those pocket-empty "first glider" owners that need to buy all of the "extras" that he/she needs. (Dang! that list is long: parachute, wing wheel, trailer repairs, new batteries etc., etc...).

Post the availability of your generous gift to RAS.

If somebody is clever, knowledgeable and motivated, they might set up a program with SSA that would get you a tax-deduction for your charitable gift of a valuable variometer and direct the vario to a waiting list of deserving clubs.

I recently learned to fly gliders at three otherwise excellent clubs. None of the trainers had audible variometers. Now I have to break the bad habit of frequently looking at the vario needle. Dumb. BTW, I have an audio variometer, but I don't have the skill to use it.

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 12:19:03 PM UTC-5, son_of_flubber wrote:
Here is something that you might be able to do to improve glider safety for everybody (yourself included).



Buy yourself a brand new variometer (you deserve it!). Give your old "perfectly good audible variometer" to a club, a commercial training operation, or one of those pocket-empty "first glider" owners that need to buy all of the "extras" that he/she needs. (Dang! that list is long: parachute, wing wheel, trailer repairs, new batteries etc., etc...).



Post the availability of your generous gift to RAS.



If somebody is clever, knowledgeable and motivated, they might set up a program with SSA that would get you a tax-deduction for your charitable gift of a valuable variometer and direct the vario to a waiting list of deserving clubs.



I recently learned to fly gliders at three otherwise excellent clubs. None of the trainers had audible variometers. Now I have to break the bad habit of frequently looking at the vario needle. Dumb. BTW, I have an audio variometer, but I don't have the skill to use it.

Of course, when you get your new fancy V7, CNv, or Butterfly vario, you will be spending all your time staring at it to get all that fancy information that you paid for!

The other problem is getting the average club user to even acknowledge the presence of an audio vario, and go to the bother of putting in a charged battery, learning how to use it, etc..

We can't get our club to agree that radios are a good thing! "Too complicated, confuses the student, they can't learn to fly and talk at the same time yadda yadda yadda".

Pathetic, really.

Kirk
66

Oh the old radio argument. Wow, have I had some battles on that one.

Those in my club that read RAS will know this story, but most comical radio usage discussion and irony I've dealt with.

Week 1: I propose buying handhelds and speaker mics to use in the trainers.. Along with suggestion on how to incorporate it and when...
Week 2: Fire and brimstone rain down on why radios are unnecessary and the whole yada, yada. One instructor (Instructor X) in particular.
Week 3: Instructor X gets into wave with a student. I am on tow in our Duo. Instructor X calls the person in my back seat on a cell phone to tell us where the wave is at. Imagine how much easier that would have been with a radio.


Regarding Audio Varios, yes they would be nice and an upgrade/donation program is not a bad idea, but I don't think I know of very many people with a plain Audio vario. We did manage one upgrade to a club ship through a situation like this, but most people seem to have audio varios that are linked to their flight computer.

An alternate solution that I have employed at our club is the use of a couple of old Hang Gliding varios that I had. Sit that in your lap, tied to your seat belt and keep your head out of the cockpit. Often a simple HG or PG vario can be picked up for under $100 and does a very good job. The batteries last a very long time and it trains people to fly the sound not the needle.

It's not TE compensated, but for a 2-33 or a 1-26, there isn't a lot of extra E to compensate for so it generally works quite well. There are also some clip-on audio varios from Flytec and Malletec that work great as well.



On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 10:38:18 AM UTC-7, kirk.stant wrote:
On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 12:19:03 PM UTC-5, son_of_flubber wrote:

Here is something that you might be able to do to improve glider safety for everybody (yourself included).







Buy yourself a brand new variometer (you deserve it!). Give your old "perfectly good audible variometer" to a club, a commercial training operation, or one of those pocket-empty "first glider" owners that need to buy all of the "extras" that he/she needs. (Dang! that list is long: parachute, wing wheel, trailer repairs, new batteries etc., etc...).







Post the availability of your generous gift to RAS.







If somebody is clever, knowledgeable and motivated, they might set up a program with SSA that would get you a tax-deduction for your charitable gift of a valuable variometer and direct the vario to a waiting list of deserving clubs.







I recently learned to fly gliders at three otherwise excellent clubs. None of the trainers had audible variometers. Now I have to break the bad habit of frequently looking at the vario needle. Dumb. BTW, I have an audio variometer, but I don't have the skill to use it.



Of course, when you get your new fancy V7, CNv, or Butterfly vario, you will be spending all your time staring at it to get all that fancy information that you paid for!



The other problem is getting the average club user to even acknowledge the presence of an audio vario, and go to the bother of putting in a charged battery, learning how to use it, etc..



We can't get our club to agree that radios are a good thing! "Too complicated, confuses the student, they can't learn to fly and talk at the same time yadda yadda yadda".



Pathetic, really.



Kirk

66

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 1:38:18 PM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:

We can't get our club to agree that radios are a good thing!

But you digress, audible variometers (unlike radios) are universally agreed to improve "see and avoid".

Have the student bring the charged battery. No battery -- no lesson.

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 2:08:53 PM UTC-4, Morgan wrote:

There are also some clip-on audio varios from Flytec and Malletec that work great as well.

Towards the end of my training, I got a clip-on Flytec. I've found it hard to break the "look at the needle" habit. (My current plan is force myself to cover the dial when I'm thermaling.)

I'd suggest that audible variometers would best be introduced on day one of training, maybe even cover up the variometer dial until the student forms the habit of using the audio input.

On Wed, 29 May 2013 12:01:09 -0700, son_of_flubber wrote:

I'd suggest that audible variometers would best be introduced on day one
of training, maybe even cover up the variometer dial until the student
forms the habit of using the audio input.

I was lucky there - when I was learning all our club 2 seaters had audio
varios fitted. Of the simple audio varios I've used, I prefer the Borgelt
B.40 and the Tasmin V1000. The latter is preferable because it
continuously displays an average as well as the instantaneous reading.
Both have been around for a while so used examples can be found. Both
make pleasant noises. The B.40 is now superseded by the B.400 but the
Tasmin is still in production AFAIK. Both can accept a 9v battery as
backup: because of this I fly with a B.40 as backup to my SDI C4.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

"kirk.stant" wrote in message
...
snip

We can't get our club to agree that radios are a good thing! "Too
complicated, confuses the student, they can't learn to fly and talk at the
same time yadda yadda yadda".

Pathetic, really.

Kirk
66

Yeah, but I'll bet they can send a text message at 40 words/minute...

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 4:59:27 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
"kirk.stant" wrote in message

...

snip



We can't get our club to agree that radios are a good thing! "Too

complicated, confuses the student, they can't learn to fly and talk at the

same time yadda yadda yadda".



Pathetic, really.



Kirk

66



Yeah, but I'll bet they can send a text message at 40 words/minute...

I think the ideal is an audio Vario that can run on a standard 9V battery. No charging required, easy to replace. Our clubs Ka-6 has a Ball vario set up to run on a 9V. More modern options include the B-40 which I fly with in 2 of my gliders and enjoy the 9V option (one of those gliders has no other electrical system)

I generally like radios, but they aren't a show stopper. Inability to communicate has surely led to the loss of a few good soaring pilots over the years, and so has the ability to communicate.

One day soon a student will just show up with her sunglasses running XCSoar (HUD-edition). Printed on the bill of her baseball cap will be a solar-charged and disposable sensor pack that includes a barometric altimeter, HD GPS, and 3-D inertial probe. IR video overlay will highlight the thermal generating hot spots on the ground. 300 km tasks in SGS 2-33s will become the norm for first year pilots.

The steam gauges in the panel of the SGS 2-33 will keep the FAA happy.

So is one answer to my question,

"CFI-Gs largely hold sway over how we equip our trainers. Many CFI-Gs just want the student to pass the PTS ASAP, and basic skill with a audible variometer is not part of the PTS."