These last two sentences in K Urban's post were groaners. Care to
volunteer to write the column ? Even with occasional flubs (which I
humbly acknowledge I do not detect), Thelen performs a great monthly
service and his column is probably the most important in every issue of
Soaring. Yikes, the cost of volunteering !

Cheers anyhow, Charles

Charles, Just about all of my soaring buddies find Thelen's column
useless and a few of them find it downright iritating.That said, I knew
my comments might cause a few "groaners".I dont know the guy
personally, but he seems to be very opinionated (Or doesnt have a real
firm grasp of whats going on, Im not sure which), and kinda lets this
stand in the way of the facts.
What really drove this home for me was reading about an accident that
hit all too close to home.Losing a soaring buddy is a real wake up
call.I talked to everyone I could about this crash, eyewittnesses, the
tow pilot, and anyone at the field that day to try to pinpoint what
happened.When Thelen's article came out on this, he just about
completely omitted all the facts related to the crash, and turned his
column into a rip about how dangerous the model of sailplane involved
is.He admitted in the column that he had never flown this model of
sailplane and was just going from heresay, Go figure.About this time
his email disapered from the column, so I sent a lengthy and detailed
email about his column and the crash to the SSA to read and forward to
him (Info that could save a pilots life someday mind you), and I never
got a response from George or the SSA.
Charles, One way to guage the accuracy of his column is to dig up some
old copies of Soaring, and compare his conclusions to those of the
NTSB.I think the official reports come out about 12 months after an
accident.This way you can see how off base the guy is.Another thing you
can do is discuss his columns with a local CFIG or pilots with a lot of
experience.Usually they will have very different opinions from his.
As for volunteering to do it myself, I dont know what to say here.It
kinda reminds me of the recent uproar on RAS about the SSA's management
folies.Some people were of the opinion that if a RAS poster wasnt
willing to do the job himself, he should have no say in the mater.I
would counter your question about volunteering whith the question
should we not expect a more accurate safety column?(Icould go on about
what I expect from my dues money, but lets leave it at that).I agree
with you that this is one of the most important features of the
magazine.Thats why I feel it needs to be accurate not only with the
facts surrounding an accident, but also, the conclusions drawn from
these facts.In both of these areas, I think we could use an
improvement.
Fly Safe,
K Urban