Wide-ranging Safety Discussion...?

I am in agreement with everything said so far. Thanks for starting this and other safety threads. For me, as a 100/hr glider pilot, these RAS safety discussions have really given me extra incentive to dig deeper and come up with creative solutions that work for me. (hopefully!) I have also become more involved in watching out for others in our club and speaking up when necessary.

The following is probably more specific than this threads direction, but I believe in sharing real world examples of safety ideas, so here are some thing I’ve been doing.

I make my own checklists for the seated portion of my flight, for each glider type I fly. I think there are idiosyncrasies about various gliders that one really needs to be reminded of via their custom checklist. These custom checklists start with and include all of the factory items in factory order, with usually a few additions.

During tow, I use my closed fist against the airbrake to guard it from popping open, I give the release a slap to put it in the front of my mind. I talk continually on tow till 400 feet. I announce where I will land, and current IAS. In the pattern for landing I continually announce IAS and coordination and clearing of turns.

Lastly, I took the following advice for currency/emergency practice from a power aircraft article I once read. I made a spreadsheet for keeping track of Condor simulator emergency practice. Condor doesn't have much emergency features built in, but some of the gliders spin and are difficult to get out of the spin with full water and aft CG setting. For aerotow emergency practice, I set a huge crosswind to the point where I will have to release on ground roll 1 out of 2 tries. With repetition, I get wired to release rather than expecting a successful tow. Also, I can become used to seeing the wave off (followed by release and downwind landing) by setting aerotow to 200agl. I use my paper checklist and announce just like real world. Other columns in the spreadsheet include incipient spin, established spin, landing with no airbrakes, high winds in the pattern, downwind landing, and rope break at various altitudes. What Condor simulator is very good at is repetition with maneuvers that are often too dangerous to practice in real world. Also good for coordination if you have rudder pedals as I do.

… Aaron