Monthly Archives: January 2016

Along with our theme from last week we can look at many accidents attributed to not locking the canopy. Flying with an open canopy isn't the problem, it is when you stop flying the glider to deal with the canopy.

Also, You can loosen or crack a canopy fast. We lost one canopy to a winter jacket that snagged on a rail as someone reached inside to touch the stick.

Nothing makes me cringe

There is that old saying about gear up landings; "There are those that have and those that will".

Pictured above was one of last years projects by a pilot who shall remain nameless. It is an example of not doing a proper landing checklist. By that I mean -GEAR- Gear what? Up/Down/Move the handle. The picture above was the result of the later.

It is very easy to get complacent and give

Your trailer is not a sterile time capsule. I received a glider for maintenance that was left for 10 years. Sadly it does not just collect dust and cobwebs. The wings revealed crazing that is beyond applying wax and ignoring. Maybe with some luck, block sanding will be enough to smooth it out. If not I will refinish parts of the wing.

Even here in the desert there is moisture and it freezes.

At the JWGC one of the teams secured their glider by tying the wing wheel to the ground. A 1-point tie-down, now you can imagine what this did in high winds, well we can imagine many horrible things happening... The glider rolled back pivoting on the 1 tie-down running into the glider tied-down behind, the rudder was the weakest point of contact.

In the US, generally securing your glider and