"Joy of Soaring" Book

On Sep 5, 11:24*am, Tom wrote:

The Joy of Soaring was written as a simple coffee table
book. It was never designed to be a flight training manual.

That merits a big ol' [citation needed] in my mind. The foundation for
this assertion would be...?

Thanks, Bob K.

On Sep 7, 10:02*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Sep 5, 11:24*am, Tom wrote:

The Joy of Soaring was written as a simple coffee table
book. It was never designed to be a flight training manual.

That merits a big ol' [citation needed] in my mind. The foundation for
this assertion would be...?

Thanks, Bob K.

On the contrary...From the forward of the book;

"The title of this Book, "The Joy of Soaring-A Training Manual" may at
first seem like a contradiction, but this is not the case...."
Signed by Harner Selvidge, SSA Training Manual, Project Manager.

It is spelled out quite clearly that it is a training manual, and was
in fact part of the training syllabus at Schweizer Soaring School,
whose staff including the schools owners, manager and chief test pilot
contributed to its content, as did many other notable soaring pilots
from around the country.

Mike Carris

Response from Tom Knauff:

Sorry for the delay. We have been busy pushing back the flood waters.

It was more than 50 years ago when I began learning to fly, more than
40 when I began to learn to fly gliders. The first training manual
(fortunately) was “Stick and Rudder” by Wolfgang Langeweische. My
glider flight instructor was from Germany, and recommended Derek
Piggott's book, “Gliding.”

During flight training, (power and gliders) I experienced differing
opinions how things are done as I switched from instructor to
instructor.

In 1975, Doris and I started Ridge Soaring Gliderport. Shortly after
the school opened, we attempted to conform with the national
standards, and ordered the SSA recommended flight training manual,
“The Joy of Soaring,” and sold it to the students.

It soon became apparent this book contained information different than
the other texts. Eventually, we stopped using the SSA manual because
of these differences, and concerns about complying with flight
training standards established by other countries.

Derek Piggot first came to the USA at my invitation. He spent
considerable time at Ridge Soaring Gliderport, and I returned the
favor with a couple of visits to the United Kingdom. Wolfgang
Langeweishe made several visits to our gliderport at my invitation,
and we had many conversations about flight training matters.

I don't recall the year, (late '70s?) however, the SSA had a
convention in California, and I was fortunate to have a lengthy
conversation with the author of "The Joy of Soaring." When asked about
some of the issues about "The Joy of Soaring," he told me the book was
not originally intended to be a flight training manual. It was
originally only to be a coffee table book.

This explains the limited scope of the book.

The laws of learning include the “law of primacy,” which states “the
first experiences creates a strong, almost unshakable impression.”
This means what is taught the first time must be correct and complete.
Further, correcting what is incorrectly taught the first time can be
very difficult. It is very important for first presentations of
information be correct.

The FAA also is contributing to the horrendous safety problems our
sport is experiencing with the publication of the seriously flawed
“Glider Flying Handbook.” I am sure every experienced glider flight
instructor recognizes the numerous errors in this publication.

The soaring community accknowledges the safety problems the community
has experienced for many years. Despite a highly educated, mature
population, the fatality rate in our sport is worse than ANY other
activity.

It is long past time to fix problems and make necessary changes.

Tom Knauff

On 9/7/2011 1:22 PM, Tom wrote:
Response from Tom Knauff:

Sorry for the delay. We have been busy pushing back the flood waters.

It was more than 50 years ago when I began learning to fly, more than
40 when I began to learn to fly gliders. The first training manual
(fortunately) was “Stick and Rudder” by Wolfgang Langeweische. My
glider flight instructor was from Germany, and recommended Derek
Piggott's book, “Gliding.”

During flight training, (power and gliders) I experienced differing
opinions how things are done as I switched from instructor to
instructor.

In 1975, Doris and I started Ridge Soaring Gliderport. Shortly after
the school opened, we attempted to conform with the national
standards, and ordered the SSA recommended flight training manual,
“The Joy of Soaring,” and sold it to the students.

It soon became apparent this book contained information different than
the other texts. Eventually, we stopped using the SSA manual because
of these differences, and concerns about complying with flight
training standards established by other countries.

Derek Piggot first came to the USA at my invitation. He spent
considerable time at Ridge Soaring Gliderport, and I returned the
favor with a couple of visits to the United Kingdom. Wolfgang
Langeweishe made several visits to our gliderport at my invitation,
and we had many conversations about flight training matters.

I don't recall the year, (late '70s?) however, the SSA had a
convention in California, and I was fortunate to have a lengthy
conversation with the author of "The Joy of Soaring." When asked about
some of the issues about "The Joy of Soaring," he told me the book was
not originally intended to be a flight training manual. It was
originally only to be a coffee table book.

This explains the limited scope of the book.

The laws of learning include the “law of primacy,” which states “the
first experiences creates a strong, almost unshakable impression.”
This means what is taught the first time must be correct and complete.
Further, correcting what is incorrectly taught the first time can be
very difficult. It is very important for first presentations of
information be correct.

The FAA also is contributing to the horrendous safety problems our
sport is experiencing with the publication of the seriously flawed
“Glider Flying Handbook.” I am sure every experienced glider flight
instructor recognizes the numerous errors in this publication.

The soaring community accknowledges the safety problems the community
has experienced for many years. Despite a highly educated, mature
population, the fatality rate in our sport is worse than ANY other
activity.

It is long past time to fix problems and make necessary changes.

Tom Knauff



It would be very enlightening for those of us who haven't looked at the
"Glider Flying Handbook" recently to highlight some of the errors that
are in that publication.

--
Mike Schumann

Problems with the FAA Glider Flying Handbook:

When you make corrections using a computer, the number of corrections
is tabulated by the computer program. In the case of the FAA’s Glider
Flying Handbook, the number of corrections totaled over 1,400.

The vast majority of these are English language corrections and have
little to do with flight safety. However, it is important for a
sentence to make sense, be easy to understand and use correct
spelling. A poorly written text will quickly loose interest of any
educated person, which most glider pilots are.

There are many substantive errors, and I did not keep track of all of
them. Glaring errors include photographs of tow ropes with knots being
used, I assume, as weak links. This is simply incorrect as tests have
shown a knot is an unreliable method of establishing a proper breaking
strength.

Chapter 2

Drawing of glider omits names of important parts.

It is stated “the wings produce lift which allows the aircraft to stay
aloft.” Not correct. If true, would not need thermals, ridge or wave
lift. They also fail to mention sustainer engines and the role they
play when describing motor gliders.

The description of “spoilers” and “dive brakes” is incomplete and I
changed words and added a drawing to make it clear.

Chapter 3
Aerodynamics

They continue to use the term “Relative Wind” as opposed to the
correct “Relative Airflow.” This may seem like a minor detail; however
students must understand the difference between “wind” and the airflow
caused by the passage of the aircraft through the air. It is a detail
with importance as the student progresses.

Added a drawing for crosswind takeoff to make the procedure clear.
Added drawing showing glider outside of arc of towplane for clarity.
Added explanation about not using knots in the towrope.

Stalls

Corrected signs of a stall (How important is this???)

Well, you get the idea. There are many, many small and large changes
to wording, descriptions, drawings, and photos to make the content
meet an accepted standard.

Our version is better, costs less and we give a quantity discount.
Further, and most important, it produces safer pilots.

Tom Knauff

On 9/7/2011 2:56 PM, Mike Schumann wrote:


It would be very enlightening for those of us who haven't looked at the
"Glider Flying Handbook" recently to highlight some of the errors that
are in that publication.

See
http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/GB...orrections.htm

I particularly like "wench" driver. :-)


Tony "6N"

On Sep 7, 1:49*pm, Tom wrote:
Problems with the FAA Glider Flying Handbook:

When you make corrections using a computer, the number of corrections
is tabulated by the computer program. In the case of the FAA’s Glider
Flying Handbook, the number of corrections totaled over 1,400.

The vast majority of these are English language corrections and have
little to do with flight safety. However, it is important for a
sentence to make sense, be easy to understand and use correct
spelling. A poorly written text will quickly loose interest of any
educated person, which most glider pilots are.

There are many substantive errors, and I did not keep track of all of
them. Glaring errors include photographs of tow ropes with knots being
used, I assume, *as weak links. This is simply incorrect as tests have
shown a knot is an unreliable method of establishing a proper breaking
strength.

Chapter 2

Drawing of glider omits names of important parts.

It is stated “the wings produce lift which allows the aircraft to stay
aloft.” * Not correct. If true, would not need thermals, ridge or wave
lift. They also fail to mention sustainer engines and the role they
play when describing *motor gliders.

The description of “spoilers” and “dive brakes” is incomplete and I
changed words and added a drawing to make it clear.

Chapter 3
Aerodynamics

They continue to use the term “Relative Wind” as opposed to the
correct “Relative Airflow.” This may seem like a minor detail; however
students must understand the difference between “wind” and the airflow
caused by the passage of the aircraft through the air. *It is a detail
with importance as the student progresses.

Added a drawing for crosswind takeoff to make the procedure clear.
Added drawing showing glider outside of arc of towplane for clarity.
Added explanation about not using knots in the towrope.

Stalls

Corrected signs of a stall (How important is this???)

Well, you get the idea. There are many, many small and large changes
to wording, descriptions, drawings, and photos to make the content
meet an accepted standard.

Our version is better, costs less and we give a quantity discount.
Further, and most important, it produces safer pilots.

Tom Knauff

With all due respect Tom, you have yet pointed out a single error in
Glider Flying Handbook or Joy of Soaring which could be even remotely
connected to a single accident.
Implying that our dismay accident rate has anything to do with those
books is simply wrong.
Vast majority of accidents are due to human error, not fundamental
lack of knowledge.
Our accident rate is high since it is a high risk activity. To reduce
the accident rate you will need to reduce the risks (no contest
flying, no XC, no sharing of thermals, no flying in any type of
challenging weather, no flying in the mountains, no high speed low
pass, no aerobatics, etc, you get the idea) but this will also reduce
the fun to a point I rather play golf instead.
I think one of the problems we have is that most people simply don't
realize how risky this sport is, maybe because they were told the
first day they drove to the airport that the driving to the airport
was their biggest risk. Some still believes it!

Ramy

Ramy

On Sep 7, 5:49*pm, Ramy wrote:

I think one of the problems we have is that most people simply don't
realize how risky this sport is, maybe because they were told the
first day they drove to the airport that the driving to the airport
was their biggest risk. Some still believes it!

I think that Ramy has made a very important point. We too often lie to
ourselves and to others about the risks we are taking, in soaring and
in other activities. That does a disservice to everyone involved.

In my experience, people will generally moderate the seriousness of
their approach to an activity based on their perception of the various
risks involved. However, their perceptions do not always encompass the
less-obvious gotchas and pitfalls. When people are not clear about
what risks they're really accepting, they might not learn for sure
until the lesson is irrevocable.

Please note that I am not saying that we always neglect or downplay
the risks we assume in soaring. Nor am I saying that soaring is an
extremely risky endeavor. But I do think that it is a central irony of
our sport that saying that it is generally safe makes it more
dangerous than it would otherwise be.

That's one of the reasons I enjoy reading the instructions and
disclaimers that go with rock climbing gear. The instructions are
always clearly and plainly written, and usually demonstrated with
clear and concise graphics that show not only the proper usage, but
the potentially fatal outcomes of misuse.

The disclaimers are also a hoot. They generally begin with something
stark like "You may die today. Rock climbing is a dangerous
activity..." and go on to explain that there are both subjective risks
and objective risks, and that you could get killed at it even if you
do everything as right as possible. While sometimes a bit disturbing,
their clarity is refreshing.

Thanks, Bob K.

On Sep 7, 1:49*pm, Tom wrote:

A poorly written text will quickly loose interest of any
educated person, which most glider pilots are.

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea, at least.

Thanks, Bob K.

Firstly, I’ve flow with 29 flight instructors in the past decade in
both glider and powered airplanes while working on a variety of
training and goals. Several were very good in one way or another, be
it a spotless technique, a devotion to safety, making the student at
ease in the cockpit, or conveying the physics of flight in an
accessible manner. A few others may have been good pilots, but
horrible instructors. I have also read a number of the books mentioned
in this discussion thread and have learned much from them.

But I have to say that Russell Holtz not only combines all of the
qualities mentioned above, but also instructs in a very systematic
fashion that prepares the student-pilot to succeed in every step of
the flight training process. I am working with him towards my CFIG
rating and am impressed with the level of thought and preparation he
has put into his syllabus. His books, Glider Pilot’s Handbook of
Aeronautical Knowledge and Flight Training Manual for Gliders, reflect
these qualities, are very comprehensive in their content, and are
pedagogically skillful. Though I believe in the value of reading
different texts, Russell’s books offer the best soaring course to
primary and transition pilots.

Dan