Speed-To-Fly is one of the most important pieces of data that competition and cross-country glider pilots require to be successful. Best Glide and Minimum Sink speeds are determined by weight, wind, and air mass conditions. I have two goals in this tutorial. The first is to show you how to use the plane settings in…
Other News
A Fail Safe Fatigue Life Extender Proposal for the Blaník L-13
by SC Admin •
Editor’s note: The grounding of the Blanik L-13 fleet has created a number of problems around the world. I found this article interesting; however, this approach has not been approved and is provided here for information and to stimulate discussion. — WE Note about the author: Francisco Leme Galvão, (urupema@ directnet.com.br) is an aeronautical engineer.…
Sixth Women’s World Championships Results
by Bill Elliott •
The 6th Women’s FAI World Championships in Sweden have come to an end. The contest opened in Arboga, Sweden on June 13th and ended with the closing ceremonies on June 26th. Forty-seven pilots representing 12 countries competed in three classes. The new champions are: Club Class Agnete Olesen, Denmark Ayala Liran, Great Britain Amelie Audier,…
My Best Flight Ever
by Bill Elliott •
Ah, these unforgettable moments between long wings:
sitting at 27 thousand feet above the Andes,
being first to cross the finish line at the German Nationals,
spiraling up in 16 kts above the Rocky Mountains!
Diamond Goal
by Bill Elliott •
Well I had a great soaring flight yesterday. I decided to fly the NG-1 since my Cherokee is in the garage right now and I’d like to do some work on it over the next few weeks. Plus the weather was looking good but not booming and if I flew the Cherokee I would want…
Gliders Ridge Running the Sidmouth Cliffs [HD]
by Bill Elliott •
Found this on Nataša Niškić Facebook page. Pretty cool! Finally a day with a good southerly wind and a dry airmass instead of the usual grot associated with this wind direction. 5 DSGC gliders braved the rough aero-tows down to the Sidmouth cliffs, where fun was had on an epic scale. The walkers on the…
Omega Tau Aviation Podcasts
by Bill Elliott •
Omega tau is a website consisting mainly of podcasts produced by Markus Voelter and Nora Ludewig, both located in the greater Stuttgart area in Germany. Markus is a glider pilot who flies an ASH-26, but he is very much a polymath, whose interests subtend astronomy, aerodynamics, computer science, physics, space exploration, and many fields of engineering. According…
XCSoar v6.1 – The OpenSource Glide Computer
by Bill Elliott •
XCSoar is a tactical glide computer originally developed for the Pocket PC platform. In 2005, the originally commercial software was given to the open source community for further development and has constantly been improved since. It is now a multi-platform application that currently runs on Windows, Windows Mobile, Unix and Android devices.
The developers of XCSoar are proud to announce release 6.1!
A New Soaring Classfied Ad Site
by Bill Elliott •
GliderSource.com is a new soaring classified ad site that started taking ads on May 1st. The site aims to be well organized, easy to use, and provide additional functions for a great experience for both for the seller and the buyer. As the developer, I’m an airline and glider pilot, and as well as the…
Time Lapse Clouds and Sky Over the Canary Islands
by Bill Elliott •
Credit & Copyright: Daniel López, IAC; Music: Matti Paalanen, Angel’s Tear (Aeon 2) Explanation: If you could sit back and watch clouds and the sky move all night and day, what might you see? One answer from the island of Tenerife, captured over the course of the year, includes sequences that are not only breathtaking but instructive. Visible in the above…
