Soaring overload

Becoming overloaded can be from many things and any experience level. A new student might be overloaded entirely looking at the complex instrument panel of a 2-33 and flying straight. You might be a 10,000-hour glider pilot and get yourself into a situation in the mountains in an unfamiliar glider, and you wonder. Why did I get myself here?

Spring Arrived

Remember you are rusty and not as current and quick as you were when you put the glider away at the end of last season. I have a licensed pilot who mostly flies during the summer, and I spent the previous two weekends shaking the rust off to get to the point where he was comfortable again to take the glider solo. But he knows it will still take another month of flying to get back up to his usual.

I know of two gliders trying desperately to get into the shop to get flying again because they were damaged on the first weekend of the new season.

Your Abilities

Remember your abilities, you might be a new instructor, and you watch other instructors let their students get farther out of line then you are comfortable with. One they might have a better feel with what they can do. Two they might be getting complacent and allowing the glider to get farther than they really should also. It is always worth asking them afterward what their plan was when they were planning on taking over etc.

Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. I had a final glide at a Junior World Gliding Championships, the pack I was with made it home. But pilots kept looking at each other to give up first. Nobody wanted to do it. I tried for some clouds off course line and landed in a field. However, others had their final glides under the powerlines because there was not enough energy to go over.

Ask

You might be flying at Mifflin on the ridge like Region 2 is right now. From my experience from flying there at a few nationals. It is worth asking a pilot what their plan was going down a ridge. I’ve heard answers ranging from your right that was stupid, to oh there is this field around the corner. Mike and I last year ended up running the engine because we were not aware of a field in a different direction than another competitor used as an alternate and made it home. Meanwhile, we just assumed he was nuts.

Remember your abilities and always fly within them.

Hangar Dolly

COBRA Hangar Dolly supports all glider types; both single seaters and double seaters. They are galvanized, have a hydraulic lift and have special heavy duty swivel wheels. The only difference between the two versions is the double seater has a wider opening to accommodate larger gliders.

Oudie 4

The Oudie 4 intended use is helping paraglider, hang glider and other pilots navigate during leisure, cross–country and competition flights.

Oudie 4 is a Personal Gliding Assistant which aims at providing everything a glider pilot needs in one simple package. For this reason, the Oudie 4 has a big bright sun-readable screen, excellent vario and a large battery which is powerful enough for more than twelve hours of flying. Vario and Navigation software, maps and airspaces for Oudie 4 are already preinstalled. You can literally take it out of the box and launch.

Oudie 4 has a bright LCD which is a significant improvement over the standard color LCDs available in similar devices elsewhere. The screen has an anti-glare coating and is nicely sunlight readable even in direct sunlight. The touch panel can be operated with gloves, no problem.

Banner Photo Credit Maciej Gębacz - Heimdall Fotografia

 Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.