Glider Safety

On Feb 22, 12:42*pm, Andy wrote:
On Feb 21, 4:57*pm, "Morgans" wrote:

To some, that may be the reason they fly, but that sure isn't the reason
many or most fly. *I want to be old and gray, and flying all the way till I
can't see straight in my upper 90's, at least!

This seems to be quite a common attitude toward glider flying.

I wonder how much better the glider fatality numbers would look if the
cases where the pilot was dead, or otherwise medically incapacitated,
prior to the accident were eliminated. *Several US fatal accidents in
the past few years seem to fall into that category.

Is there a case for requiring a medical certificate for SSA sanctioned
contests?

Andy

This was on the RC agenda last Fall and the judgement was that this is
not needed.
My OPINION:We would more likely reduce accidents if the money that
would be spent on a medical were to be applied to regular recurrent
training. My personal observation is that the majority of the poor
flying I see is due to lack of recent practice and need for recurrent
training.
The 2 pilots I know of that had recent fatal accidents believed to be
attributable to medical causes both knew about their condition and
elected to fly anyway. Even a pilot holding a medical could do this-
not legally. Self certification holds us all to the same standard of
not having a physical defect that would make us unable to pilot
glider.
FWIW
UH

On Feb 23, 8:04*am, wrote:
On Feb 22, 12:42*pm, Andy wrote:



On Feb 21, 4:57*pm, "Morgans" wrote:

To some, that may be the reason they fly, but that sure isn't the reason
many or most fly. *I want to be old and gray, and flying all the way till I
can't see straight in my upper 90's, at least!

This seems to be quite a common attitude toward glider flying.

I wonder how much better the glider fatality numbers would look if the
cases where the pilot was dead, or otherwise medically incapacitated,
prior to the accident were eliminated. *Several US fatal accidents in
the past few years seem to fall into that category.

Is there a case for requiring a medical certificate for SSA sanctioned
contests?

Andy

This was on the RC agenda last Fall and the judgement was that this is
not needed.
My OPINION:We would more likely reduce accidents if the money that
would be spent on a medical were to be applied to regular recurrent
training. My personal observation is that the majority of the poor
flying I see is due to lack of recent practice and need for recurrent
training.
The 2 pilots I know of that had recent fatal accidents believed to be
attributable to medical causes both knew about their condition and
elected to fly anyway. Even a pilot holding a medical could do this-
not legally. Self certification holds us all to the same standard of
not having a physical defect that would make us unable to pilot
glider.
FWIW
UH

I second the recurrent training idea.

On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:53:31 -0800 (PST), bildan
wrote:


I second the recurrent training idea.

This IS a very good idea.

But, look at what happened in the last few years in Switzerland.
There, no medical was required from glider pilots, after the first and
only examination as the licence is released. It was in fact a "once in
a lifetime" exam.

After a series of gliding accidents where elderly pilots were
involved, and the suspect is that at least one of two of them were
incapacitated before the crash occurred... And considering that one of
such crashes happened unfortunately in a public garden... A
periodical medical review is now compulsory in Switzerland.

Aldo Cernezzi

On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:25:43 +0100, cernauta wrote:

On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:53:31 -0800 (PST), bildan
wrote:


I second the recurrent training idea.

This IS a very good idea.

Agreed. In my (UK) club all pilots must do a short refresher course
before the start of the season. Each refresher is for four pilots and is
run by two instructors. Its aimed at checking situational awareness and
eventualities rather than merely seeing if you can still fly. It consists
of:
- a chalk & talk session with the instructors running the course,
typically for no more than an hour.
- an aero tow to 3000-3500 ft for stalling and spinning exercises.
There's usually some exercises during the tow too - slack rope, out of
position recovery, etc.
- two winch launches which involve simulated cable breaks or power
failures. You know that you're unlikely to get to the top but
not what's about to be sprung on you.

After a series of gliding accidents where elderly pilots were involved,
and the suspect is that at least one of two of them were incapacitated
before the crash occurred... And considering that one of such crashes
happened unfortunately in a public garden... A periodical medical
review is now compulsory in Switzerland.

We used to be self-certifying for solo flying but have had a 5 yearly
medical examination, administered by your GP, for a long time. It used to
be required only for passenger carrying or instructing. I don't know when
this was introduced: it pre-dates my start in gliding. The required
standard is equivalent to the professional driver's medical. I think this
is a sensible and reasonable approach.

Around 2003 or 4 the self-certification was replaced by the same medical
required for passenger carrying and instructing.


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

On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:29:20 +0000 (UTC), Martin Gregorie
wrote:

We used to be self-certifying for solo flying but have had a 5 yearly
medical examination, administered by your GP, for a long time. It used to
be required only for passenger carrying or instructing. I don't know when
this was introduced: it pre-dates my start in gliding. The required
standard is equivalent to the professional driver's medical. I think this
is a sensible and reasonable approach.

The FAA requirements in the US are more stringent than California
Department of Motor Vehicles requirements (I have a DMV medical
certificate because I drive a vanpool to work). The DMV requirements
are reasonable.