Safety Margin
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January 30, 2020
The only way to eliminate risk is not to go flying. Since that's not an option for most of us let's try and mitigate the risk on the ground. Not just today or until you don’t have a problem and forget about it, EVER SINGLE FLIGHT FOREVER.
Fast is Slow and Slow is Fast
If you want to go Fast, slow
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July 19, 2018
I went cross country with a student last week in the mighty Grob 103, we covered about 100 km. The student (actually he has a license) has been very reluctant to go cross country in his own glider. We looked at the weather and he had been watching SkySight for a few days. The
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December 21, 2017
It does not take extra Risks to Race. I hear from people all the time that say they would never race because of the additional risk involved. I would not expect my newly soloed student to get away with a low climb that I might do flying solo or at a contest. There are times when a low climb is not safe and I would not attempt it. There are times when you race on a day you normally would not have gone -
September 21, 2017
The FAA has standardized a risk assessment matrix based on the likelihood and severity of an event. A particular hazard is placed within the matrix, and the higher the hazard's position, the greater the focus on mitigating it should be.
Using this matrix is a very subjective process. One pilot might assess the likelihood of a mid-air collision with an airliner
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September 14, 2017
Orion Kingman writes this newsletter. He focuses on using the FAA's Risk Management to help pilots and organizations mitigate risks. I recommend taking notes at the end and discussing with fellow pilots over an after-flight beverage. Many times, it is a cultural change to become safer.
Applied Risk Management in Soaring
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August 24, 2017
Do not be intimidated. With new students, there is one glider circling and they want to run the other way, while I am telling them to aim for the glider. Visualize their circle and merge into it just as you would merge onto the freeway. The concept is the same with 1 glider or 50.
However, 50 leads to other problems. It can get very inefficient and hard to get away from once you have joined. -
July 20, 2017
I received a fair amount of feedback from last week's article and felt I should continue with this topic. Then the picture above happened on Wednesday (they were not in the air).
My article last week was about staying away from the storm. It is very common for pilots to want to return or beat the storm back to the airport. But as I said last week now you are on the ground and the glider is outside -
July 13, 2017
The FAA recommends avoiding thunderstorms by 20 miles (see AC-00-24c). However, sometimes we might fly a little closer to fly in the strong part of the lift. This does not come without risk. I have talked to pilots who have had the spoilers open at VNE and still climbing.