You've decided to enter a major competition, but where does one start with preparation? Naturally, the best place to start is with the pilot. The good thing about this, it can be done all the time.

For me, it's essential to realize that the focus should be put on the process of what makes a good flight, the skills & factors necessary to achieve the performance. Focus on putting all the little

As glider pilots, we spend a lot of time fretting about instrument settings or dust and bugs on our wings.  We read articles about maximizing that final glide or about how to tune the glider for maximum performance. On a contest or record flight, we factor wind conditions into the start and finish strategy and consider what course lines between the turn points might provide the best access to

In my last article, I wrote about stitching the sky, effectively how to fly cloud streets in the blue, or at least give yourself the best chance to maximize your chance of staying within one & extending your glides. Clouds, glorious clouds, they sure make life easier

The beauty about clouds is that they give all sorts of hints, that's of course if you're willing to look out for them. There's

Honest question: raise your hand if you’ve ever given the rudder wag for a takeoff then thought to yourself “did I put the spar pin in?”

Now, the harder question: when that happened, did you release or continue the takeoff and hope for the best?

An Uncomfortable Truth

An old fighter pilot saying goes “It is better to die than to look bad, but it is possible to do both.” 

Learning How to Stitch…

Strange subject line. I’m a flatland pilot, some would say that’s easier, others would say that’s harder – how do you know where the thermals are or where the micro-energy is in the sky? In this article, I hope to describe how to do just this, though for the blue, or as some might like to say in a dry sky, no cumulus…

I first heard of the technique from a