Instruments

Accurate instrument calibration can make a significant difference in both your personal flying enjoyment and competition performance. If you have accurate instruments, it's easier to identify areas of lift, obtain more accurate final glide figures, and better target speeds for Macready, among other benefits. With that in mind, I recently conducted a high tow to test my Ventus 3's instruments, refine

The more I fly with the LXNAV HAWK, the more I realise that I almost can't fly without it now. It has become an essential part of my decision-making process in flight, refining how I choose my climbs and ultimately making me a more efficient and effective pilot.

At the recent nationals, I lost count of the times I pulled up, hopeful of a climb, only for the HAWK to signal me: "No, don't bother." Time

If you’ve ever watched a glider gracefully manoeuvre through the sky, or you’ve just started your life’s soaring adventure you might wonder how they or we manage to stay aloft for so long without an engine. One of the key tools that we use to help us as glider pilots achieve this beautiful feat, is called a variometer. In this article, I want to describe in simple terms how this clever device works.

The Naviter SeeYou Oudie N is a cutting-edge navigation device designed to enhance the flying experience for glider pilots.  Packed with advanced features and a user-friendly interface, this instrument has become a game-changer in the world of soaring, especially if you’re looking for something compatible with any glider or to complement your other main soaring device.  Let’s delve into the benefits

What do you think about on the drive home after an enjoyable days soaring?  Is it about the family and all the things you need to do at home, the coming week's work, or the party you’re going to tonight?  All things that need to be thought about and rather normal, but if you really want to make progress in your soaring career, then you should ask yourself, what did I learn today?

Learning from

When you are considering replacing or adding new equipment and avionics in your glider, it is important to first consider the category of glider you are working with. Experimental gliders offer a wider and normally cheaper range of options to choose from.  Alternatively, Standard Type Certificated aircraft are held to stricter guidelines for their installed equipment. 

Title 14 of the Code of

I've been flying with LXNAV's new HAWK vario system. To explain really quickly, it isn't a Total Energy vario. It works like this: if you can model the performance of the glider, and you can keep track of the attitude and airspeed, then you know what the resulting flight path should be. Now watch what the real flight path is. The difference between the model and the reality is the movement of the

Ask G; "My variometer doesn't seem to work correctly.  How do I check the system?    Maybe the newest pressure transducer variometers with wind gust algorithms have better results?" 

Go back to basics for a moment: remember that a pilot should be able to discriminate between going up because he's in lift, and going up because he's pulled the stick back. That's the point of the Total energy

Welcome to the new series of newsletter articles by the author of The Soaring Engine books, G Dale.  This series is titled "Ask G" takes your questions directly to G for answers to be published in a future article.  What's your question?  Curious about soaring weather?  Glider fundamentals? How does a particular instrument work?  Sailplane preparation?  Something else?  Let us know, send

Real-time Wind Indication

For the glider pilot, it is essential to know how the air mass is moving in its surroundings. Today's TEK Varios work very well for measuring vertical airmass movement if the airplane's speed is approximately constant, e.g., when circling.

As important as the vertical movement of the airmass is the horizontal component, which we commonly refer to as wind. Especially in mountain