Fly the aircraft

On Sep 8, 7:41*pm, Carl B wrote:
Modern gliders give very little indications of a stall (another reason
why training in old clunkers like the 2-33 is counterproductive). *Add
a little distraction or a higher priority task (Bee in the cockpit!)

Is a bee in the cockpit enough of a distraction or a higher priority
task than flying
the aircraft. *If you think so you should reread "Fate is the Hunter".

Carl B

I have a severe reaction to bee stings. I'm pretty careful about it
and haven't been stung in over 30 years. I carried an "EpiPen" with me
to contests or anywhere where I was traveling away from prompt medical
attention. But I didn't carry it in the cockpit back then. A sting to
the neck or upper torso would probably give me an hour or less to live
without medical attention. I had a mad bee enter the cockpit while I
was at 9K feet on task at a regional contest near Colorado Springs
about 10 years ago back. It might has well been a live hand grenade in
the cockpit as far as I was concerned. I was in contact with the C/S
tower (10 miles east) and was close to calliing an inflight emergency
with request for emergency landing with standby medical attention just
before I managed to kill the bee. During that time I also considered
bailing out of the aircraft to get away from the bee. Yes, I was
flying the sailplane the whole time (not very coordinated though) but
that bee had my full attention. After that happened one of my EpiPen
is always in my car when I drive and in my aircraft when I fly.

A mad bee in the cockpit is a different kind of event for those of us
for whom a sting could be a fatal event.

Al T