End of Season Sunset Warning for SSA-OLC Participants

I am troubled by two lines of reasoning that appear persistently both
in this thread and in private emails I have been copied on related to
OLC flights. They are troubling to me because they reflect a cultural
value that simply invites increased regulation, enforcement actions and
restrictions from our federal authorities.

The first goes like: "Since the OLC doesn't explicitly say flights must
comply with the FARs then the flights don't need to"

The second goes like: "Since specific violations of a rule were not
enforced correctly in the past then the rule no longer is enforceable."

Sadly, this errant reasoning has also appeared in my work at scoring
national competitions.

So since the absurdness (and counterproductiive impact) of these
positions is apparantly NOT evident on its face to all - here is my
rant.

1. There are some things in life which "just don't need to be said"
because they are so obvious. There is simply no advantage to our sport
(and indeed there are clear disadvantages) for our sporting authorities
to sanction or even appear to be agnostic to violations of the FARs.
Period.

2. It negatively impacts our sport when individuals publicly document
that they operate in violation of the FARs (or give the appearance of
being outside the FARs without explanation). If participants could be
relied on to self enforce and to not submit flights with clear
violations (and preemptively provide explanations for anything that
could be called into question) it would not be necessary for the
sporting authorities to intervene. Of course an occasional inadvertent
error will occur; and in that situation, when it is pointed out
privately to the individual - good sportsmansihp dictates that the
flight be voluntarily withdrawn immediately until adjudicated.

3. It negatively impacts our sport when these same individuals argue
publically that FAR violations should not be disqualifying for sporting
achievements.(Free speech is not without costs).

4. This OLC is great fun, a great competition and an incredibly
valuable learning tool. The last thing we should do (as individuals or
organizationally) is behave in ways that call attention to us as a
"target rich enforcement opportunity" to the federalies. Further, we
should actively work to be publically seen as self-enforcing, which
will work to avoid outside enforcement attention.

I share the disappointment of the pilots whose otherwise very
spectacular flights don't clear the bar - been there and had to forefit
the t-shirt. On the other hand it's not like what is at stake is a
costarring position under Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct 3."

So while it may be quite safe on the golf course to shake your 1 iron
in the air to protest a passing thunderstorm (since "even God can't hit
a 1 iron") it only invites further restrictions and oversight if we do
things that present lightning rods for enforcement attention. This just
seems so obvious.

As a sanctioned participant in the sport we all have an obligation to
behave in ways that protect the sport from further outside interference.

Ian Cant a écrit :

But what about motorgliders with lights and big
batteries ? Are they allowed to have longer days than
the rest of us ?

Not only motorgliders. Any glider with proper equipment can be certified
night-VFR and flew OLC flights or records for 50+ hours (BTW there has
been world records up to 55 hours half a century before OLC was created
;-) )

BTW, when will SSA check passports and baptism certificate of pilots and
crew, in order to prove that those flight logs close to possible
terrorism targets were not driven by some islamist fundamuntalists ?

Seems that Big Brother is now a soaring pilot :-(((

--
Denis

R. Parce que ça rompt le cours normal de la conversation !!!
Q. Pourquoi ne faut-il pas répondre au-dessus de la question ?

Is night cross-country in an adequately-equipped glider
inherently more dangerous than night cross-country
in a Cessna ? Each is one failure [loss of lift or
loss of engine] away from that dark field. It might
be more accurate to say that at night you need to give
yourself much wider safety margins than in daylight.

Ian





At 23:12 12 September 2006, Doug Haluza wrote:

Obviously, night cross country
in gliders is very dangerous, due to the possibility
of an outlanding
in a dark field, so I hope we don't have to wait until
someone dies to
address this.

I suspect that the chance of loosing lift in a glider is significantly
higher than loosing an engine. I personally do not think it is a good idea
to fly at night in a single engine power plane unless you have a full moon
and are over very favorable terrain.

Mike Schumann

"Ian Cant" wrote in message
...
Is night cross-country in an adequately-equipped glider
inherently more dangerous than night cross-country
in a Cessna ? Each is one failure [loss of lift or
loss of engine] away from that dark field. It might
be more accurate to say that at night you need to give
yourself much wider safety margins than in daylight.

Ian





At 23:12 12 September 2006, Doug Haluza wrote:

Obviously, night cross country
in gliders is very dangerous, due to the possibility
of an outlanding
in a dark field, so I hope we don't have to wait until
someone dies to
address this.

Mike Schumann wrote:
I suspect that the chance of loosing lift in a glider is significantly
higher than loosing an engine. I personally do not think it is a good idea
to fly at night in a single engine power plane unless you have a full moon
and are over very favorable terrain.

In a typical 15M glider, if you can climb to 17,900 ft MSL an hour
before sunset (which is not uncommon in the western US), what time will
you land if you glide at best L/D to your home airport at 5000 ft MSL?

Marc Ramsey wrote:

In a typical 15M glider, if you can climb to 17,900 ft MSL an hour
before sunset (which is not uncommon in the western US), what time will
you land if you glide at best L/D to your home airport at 5000 ft MSL?

More than 1:30 later, or more than 0:30 after sunset.


Jack

OK, here's a video of flying aerobatics at night, below
1500' in a multi-engine turbine glider. No multi-engine
ticket, no type rating, position lights off, and wingtips
on fire...legally! Should have logged it on OLC just
to stir the pot a bit ;o)

low resolution:
http://www.silentwingsairshows.com/video/nightshow.wmv




At 06:24 13 September 2006, Bumper wrote:

'Doug Haluza' wrote in message
oups.com...

Obviously, night cross country
in gliders is very dangerous, due to the possibility
of an outlanding
in a dark field, so I hope we don't have to wait until
someone dies to
address this.


I've flown my previous glider, a Stemme S10-VT, in
wave at night. A most
beautiful and memorable flight. Fields? Dangerous?
I stayed within easy
gliding distance of airports with pilot controlled
lighting. The Stemme was
equipped with the required position and anit-collision
(strobe) lights.

bumper

Bob C writes:

OK, here's a video of flying aerobatics at night, below
1500' in a multi-engine turbine glider. No multi-engine
ticket, no type rating, position lights off, and wingtips
on fire...legally! Should have logged it on OLC just
to stir the pot a bit ;o)

low resolution:
http://www.silentwingsairshows.com/video/nightshow.wmv

Not bad, but at that altitude I would have expected the flack to be
more accurate. Pretty colours, though.

--
Brian Raven

At 21:54 13 September 2006, Brian Raven wrote:
Bob C writes:

OK, here's a video of flying aerobatics at night,
below
1500' in a multi-engine turbine glider. No multi-engine
ticket, no type rating, position lights off, and wingtips
on fire...legally! Should have logged it on OLC just
to stir the pot a bit ;o)

low resolution:
http://www.silentwingsairshows.com/video/nightshow.wmv

Not bad, but at that altitude I would have expected
the flack to be
more accurate. Pretty colours, though.

--
Brian Raven

What flak? Those are anti-missile flares ;o)

If you look close you can see the muzzle flashes from
the 2' mortar tubes mounted to the aft fuselage.

Bob

I have been through this process twice. One certified,
one experimental.

Check your glider's operating limitations. If it is
a certified glider (not experimental), it is probably
placarded against night flying. The only way to change
that is to place it in experimental category. It will
still require an STC (or 337/ field approval, if you
can get one). Whelen lights have been put on everything
from airliners to fighters, yet it requires a totally
new STC for installation on a new make/model. I douby
Whelen is interested in this tiny market segment.

If it is experimental, your ops limits probably state
'Day VFR only, unless equipped according to 91.205'.
They probably also require you to notify FSDO of any
major alterations. Adding lights is a major alteration.

LEDs are very bright, but also very directional. To
meet the angle, color requirements is fairly difficult.
Whelen does make LED wingtip lights, but they are
fairly expensive. You will also need at least two
strobes, and the power supplies to go with them. LEDs
won't currently meet the requirements for strobes.

Unless your motorglider (Stemme, Katana, Ximango) came
factory equipped, or unless someone is paying you to
fly at night, probably more trouble than it's worth.

Bob C.


At 21:00 15 September 2006, Wayne Paul wrote:
Mike,

It is a Schreder HP-14 kit built sailplane designed
in 1966. Dick Schreder
won the US Nationals with serial number 1 in 1967.
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-14/N4736G.htm

Wayne
HP-14 N990 '6F'
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/N990_Borah_Mt.JPG
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder



'Mike Schumann' wrote in message
link.net...
What kind of glider is that?

Mike Schumann

'jb92563' wrote in message
oups.com...
I can think of one way to make a glider more visible
with an intensity
equal to the sun and draws absolutley NO POWER and
requires NO WIRING

Check this out!

http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP...LH/N14LH_2.jpg

In truth the power it requires is in the buffing,
but the results are
incredible.

The polish to get this is called Nuvite and costs
a lot but with
outstanding results http://www.perfectpolish.com/