Worcester Municipality is going to provide us with about 40 cubic metres of gravel for our winch runway which should make a great deal of difference to the surface. Thanks to Marianne Thomson who organised a front end loader and spent a day organising the smoothing out of the bumps on the runway. Thanks also to the winch team under André's direction who have been spending so much time training and converting pilots. We must congratulate Biggles Bill Griffiths who got to the ridge from the winch, quite a feat!
GTO now has a nose-wheel, thanks to Eddie Malinaric, our famous weather man, who also has other notable skills (modifying gliders). To John and Nicky, who fixed the wing and André and Ian, who fixed the trailer and the elevator, thanks a lot. The Motor Falke's LS1 has been completed by the long suffering and newly-converted winch pilot, Trevor Johnson. Thanks again, Trevor. Members please fly it, as this plane gets very low utilisation.
Sandy Hultberg has taken over as Chief Tug Pilot from Paul Ireland who has gone to 43 Air School to do his comm. Thanks Paul, you did a very professional and efficient job. To Sandy, thanks for stepping in and I hope the tug and tuggies behave while you are in the job!
The social committee under Bruce, Allison and Sarah has organised two functions. Both were successful and it fills a great need in our club. Keep up the good work!
We are looking at introducing a limited membership category. This is in order to try and make the club more attractive for new members. There are more details in this newsletter and I think it can only have positive benefits.
Our database and marketing programme is coming on well under Barry Gazzard and we are definitely seeing an increase in the PAXes. Hopefully this will convert to more members. Peter Wooley has agreed to handle enquiries from the public, as Barry is finding that the calls are interfering with his business. So please get people to phone Peter; or better still, get a brochure so that you can field the questions and save Peter's time. If any member knows a person who has expressed interest in gliding, please fax/phone/E-mail Barry with her or his name so that we can mail her or him and add them to our database.
With regard to the airfield, members will see a new hangar erected in front of our clubhouse which obscures our view. Unfortunately, this was done without consulting your committee. We raised a stink but to no avail. On this point, if any of our members would like to erect a structure on the airfield, they have to come through our committee first before we will take it up with the Worcester Flying Club.
The Club plans to hold a maintenance day on 20th July All members are expected to show their faces. Work parties will be allocated to fixing the hanger, erecting a cover to prevent the rope catching the fence at the 33 side, putting in the foundations for the sun cover at the 15 side, lifting the hanger doors, cleaning the tug, fixing up the toilet block, planting more trees and putting the finishing touches to the clubhouse. Details will be sent out soon. Last year's maintenance day was a most enjoyable event.
See you at cloud base.
Rob Tiffin
picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me, and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay
with you." He took the frog out, smiled at it and returned it to his pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me, and turn me back into a beautiful
princess, I will stay with you and do anything you want!" Again, he took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back in his pocket. Finally the frog asked,
"What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" He replied,
"Look, I'm a glider pilot, I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool!"
often - although he has offered to still handle some aspects of the CFI's job - (such as Medical records, run Instructors Courses and help with GPL
Lectures). His is going to be a very difficult act for me to follow and I hope you will all bear with me for a while while I get into the swing of things - I will
give it my best!
My objectives as CFI are:
1) To maintain our safety record. We can only do this by strict adherence to standards - I do not want to be a policeman ; but even at the risk of making myself unpopular, I will enforce the rules at all times. Please understand this.
2) To promote more flying. The cost of flying is high, but I believe by making things more comfortable at the launch point, increasing our efficiency and making use of the winch for circuit and landing training we will reduce the cost of training and thereby attract more members. This in turn will bring down overall costs.
Having said that, my congratulations to those newer members that have been doing a lot of flying recently - namely Andrew Roos and Axel Kreuter who have gone solo and Richard O'Molony who recently did 5 hours and landed with the aid of landing lights! Sven Olivier has converted onto the Cirrus and with a little persuasion I hope to talk him into sharing GIG with me at Jan Kempdorp this year! Marianne and Garth are coming on well. Alan Ball is nearly solo and needs to write the R & R exam. Our new pupils are Sue Liegner, Campbell Lyons and Hedley Prince. Campbell had his first flight at Fisantekraal as a member of 1st Rosebank Air Scouts 15 years ago and decided, then and there, that one day he would take up gliding! Martin Grünert has converted onto the Cirrus and is in the process of completing his Motor Falke conversion.
Regarding winching - our sincere thanks to Marianne for her organization and help as a member of the work party involved with the conditioning of the winch runway. We still have a lot of work to do, but the worst sections have been repaired.
In very strong winds Bill Griffiths proved Vic Peak and wave can be contacted from the winch and Phil Surridge flew a downwind leg backwards in the Ka7! (well, - partly). Mike got away in his LS3a last weekend and I flew the Duster off the winch.
Instructor conversions are proceeding well with Nicky O, Peters W, F and C, Paul B, Grové S, Phil S, Ken U, Rico S and Trevor J having been cleared for solo on the winch. Ronnie M on his first ever winch launch did not expect the initial acceleration and was heard to mutter "Sierra-Hotel-India- Tango" from the front cockpit just before becoming airborne!
Winch radio procedures: Remember the pre-takeoff blind call and the pre-landing call should refer to "Winch Runway 33/15" and not 33/15 left/right . Runway 33/15 obviously still refers to the main runway - (less confusion all round).
Wingman: Especially in the case of winch launching the wingman should stand on the side of the glider that the tow hook is fitted so that he can check for an overrun.
Please check the LS1 currency sticker in the glider when carrying out the DI. Two aircraft were grounded recently because the LS1 had expired..
Safety tips
1) At this time of the year landing on 33 at the end of the day into the setting sun can be a problem, especially if the canopy has gathered dust during the day. It's a good plan to re-wash glider canopies at the launch point while waiting for your take-off slot. Take a bucket of water to the launch point.
2) Duty pilots should offer their help with positive control checks at the launch point. Why not do these checks in the opposite sense as well, ie:- firstly, duty pilot holds control surface and pilot tries to move stick and then, duty pilot tries to move control surface while pilot holds stick - no harm in a double check.
Utilization of club gliders is being recorded graphically (see elsewhere). - Just a note by way of explanation - the plot is a running average (average of all preceding months) so the December figure will be the average for the year. Provided the plot reaches the break-even line by year-end we are OK; but let's try to reach this line before then and stay above it to December. (The break-even figure is somewhat academic for the Cirrus now that the pre-payment scheme is in operation. However, we will continue to show it for interest sake.)
Many members perform tasks that go largely unthanked and unnoticed by those who reap the benefits. Here are just two who regularly do more than their fair share at Worcester:
Rico Suter is the man who obtains our Avgas and delivers it personally to the airfield - think of him next time you are on tow, or flying the Motor Falke.
Think of him again next time you have a hot shower at Worcester, as he is also the man who arranges for the gas tanks of the hot water system to be refilled.
And on the subject of water, both hot and cold: Gerhard Waller has done all the work on the plumbing installation at our clubhouse and is currently busy installing a flow-through water heater for the kitchen sink. Gerhard also did the tiling in the clubhouse, and has attended to other plumbing matters over the years, too numerous to mention.
To Gerhard and Rico we extend our sincere thanks - your contributions would certainly be missed if you were not here.
I hear that the doors of two of the T-hangars were blown off in the recent stormy weather. Thankfully, there was only minor damage to Rico's glider. The Breede river rose so high that the long bridge to Nekkies had to be closed!
André Leeb du Toit maintains the telephone list and also needs to be advised of changes. In the last issue I asked for any members who have e-mail addresses to let me know so that we can use e-mail for passing on information. Sarah has asked for members' fax numbers so that she can use them to notify us of social events. Well, we've decided to expand on this and include all of this information on the telephone list in future. Could you please advise André of your current home, work and fax numbers as well as your e-mail address and cell phone number (if you have one).
To assist members who would like to contribute material for the KK, here are the publishing deadlines for the rest of the year. If you have written something, please try to get it to me before the deadline.
ISSUE Final Date for Contributions
August 1996 15/8/96
October 1996 10/10/96
December 1996 5/12/96
February 1997 13/2/97
April 1997 17/4/97
See you at cloudbase
Ronnie
Here's something I found in the gliding newsgroup on the Internet. It's got nothing to do with gliding, but I found it so amusing that I thought that I must share it.
So anyway, the highway engineers hit upon the plan remember, I am not making this up of blowing up the whale with dynamite. The thinking is that the whale would be blown into small pieces, which would be eaten by seagulls, and that would be that. A text book whale removal.
So they moved the spectators back up the beach, put a half ton of dynamite next to the whale and set it off. I am probably not guilty of understatement when I say that what follows, on the videotape, is the most wonderful event in the history of the universe. First you see the whale carcass disappear in a huge blast of smoke and flame. Then you hear the happy spectators shouting "Yayy!" and "Whee!" Then suddenly, the crowd's tone changes. You hear a new sound like "splud". You hear a woman's voice shouting "Here come pieces of ... MY GOD!" Something smears the camera lens.
Later, the reporter explains, "The humour of the entire situation suddenly gave way to a run for survival as huge chunks of whale blubber fell everywhere." One piece caved in the roof of a car parked more than a quarter of a mile away. Remaining on the beach were several rotting whale sections the size of condominium units. There was no sign of the seagulls who had, no doubt, permanently relocated to Brazil.
This is a very sobering videotape. Here at the institute we watch it often, especially at parties. But this is no time for gaiety. This is a time to get hold of the folks at the Oregon State Highway Division and ask them, when they get done cleaning up the beaches, to give us an estimate on the US Capitol.
Tom Mahoney
Many members who are not on the Committee perform tasks necessary for the smooth running of the Club. However, from time to time, events are organised or items are purchased without the Committee's approval. As the Committee is elected by the members to manage the affairs of the Club, it must be kept informed. To avoid potential embarrassment, we ask that members planning events or purchases please ask the Committee for the OK before going ahead. Speak to any Committee member and ask them to raise the matter at the next Committee meeting. It will also be their responsibility to inform you of the outcome of your request.
Remember that the Committee only meets once a month. So you can't always get an instant answer. If the matter is really urgent, contact Rob Tiffin and tell him that you need an answer quickly. He will then contact the other Committee members by phone to get an answer. Less urgent matters will have to wait for the next meeting.
Graham has asked that members do not send him post-dated cheques. If he doesn't notice the fact and deposits the cheque too soon, it will not be paid and the Club will have to pay a fee of R30.
The microphone on GHB seems to be a bit insensitive. If you use it, please speak into it clearly.
The taxiways have got quite corrugated. We generally don't notice it, driving in our cars. However, the occupants of power aircraft and microlights report that it is quite a jarring experience. The taxiways will be graded as soon as possible; but, to avoid worsening the situation now and keeping the taxiways smooth in future, please don't accelerate quickly; drive slowly and on the side of the taxiway. This will also help stop shrubs encroaching on to the taxiway.
We suspect that some Duty Pilots are not recording tug times correctly. Remember that the tug time starts when he applies full throttle after all out is signalled. The tug time stops when the tug's wheels touch the runway after the flight. Please time accurately as it is unfair to the glider pilot if he gets charged more than he should. Also, if the tug is forced to go around due to the runway being blocked, use your discretion and record a reduced (fair) time for the tug. If you aren't sure about what to record, speak to the instructor on duty.
Our publicity programme has resulted in many people coming for introductory flights. Thanks to all who've worked hard at making this possible. However, we find that the number of people who actually sign up as members is very small. There are obviously a number of reasons for this, but cost could be one of them. We have recently started offering the facility to potential members of paying off the initial amount with a credit card's budget facility. Another idea that we will be trying is the idea of a limited membership.
The idea behind this is that it would enable a new member to join the Club with a smaller initial investment and have limited use of the Club's facilities until he/she has made the decision to become a full member. The limitations that would apply are that the limited member would have no vote, the period of membership would be limited to 12 months or while the person is a registered full-time student, flying may only be done in the wooden gliders by winch launch (except for 2 hours in the Motor Falke).
The cost of this (based on current rates) would be as follows:
Limited Full
Entrance fee R125 R500
SSSA affiliation R145 R145
Deposit R60 R305
TOTAL R330 R950
Once the member decides to convert to full membership, the balance (at current rates) will become payable.
This scheme will be introduced on a trial basis and will be reviewed at the next AGM. Any comments in the meantime to Rob Tiffin or Peter Wooley.
We would like to ask all pupils to let us know what they would like to appear here. Also, if you have any experiences you would like to pass on to the rest of the Club, this is just the place to do it.
To the older (and wiser?) members, please give us the benefit of your wisdom and contribute material. We are very grateful to Mike Pascoe and Peter Wooley, who have helped us start this column with the following contributions:
Goals
As you look around the club you will notice many people who have been in gliding for what sounds like forever. They remain keen and enthusiastic glider pilots. What drives this enthusiasm? It has been said that gliding is only a hobby, in the sense that painting was a hobby for Michelangelo, or raping and looting for the Vikings!!
Gliding is full of ongoing challenges, and these never really seem to end. The challenges that each pilot (pupil or experienced) face depend on the level of experience. A new pupil may be finding getting "A's" from the instructor a major challenge. As one progresses 1st solo is a major hurdle and challenge, then the first cross-country. Soaring and so on are challenges and milestones. As one progresses, the challenges and goals move, but always remain. Some of these goals are defined by the FAI (Federation Aeronautique International) badges. These badges are proficiency badges and are progressively more difficult to attain. The "C" badge is defined by a country's gliding controlling body. In SA this requires 30 minutes soaring after release from tow.
The "Silver C" and subsequent badges are defined by the FAI and are international. The Silver has 3 legs.
1) A flight of 5 hours duration after release.
2) A height gain of 1000 metres.
3) A distance of 50 kms.
The "Gold C" includes the same 5 hours flight, plus a height gain of 3000 m, and a distance flight of 300 km. Now to add Diamonds to the Gold: 1 Diamond for a 300 km flight to a pre-declared goal. 1 Diamond for a 500 km distance flight. 1 Diamond for a height gain of 5000 m, and then the cherry on the top, the 1000 km Diploma.
In SA we also have a Glider Pilots Licence. This requires a pilot to have completed the Silver C, passed theoretical examinations in a number of subjects, and to have completed the flight training syllabus.
The three main sections of the book - about the glider itself, learning to fly, and soaring, cover all aspects of each subject in clear, easy-to-read language. The section on the glider covers everything from how it flies, rigging, instruments, launching methods, as well as a section on motor gliders. The syllabus, as taught in our own club, is well covered in the section on learning to fly, up to and including the first solo.
All the soaring phenomena that we have at Worcester are covered in the third section, which also includes navigation, field landings, met, and that wonderful experience, the first cross-country. There are also appendices on aerobatics, badges and records.
While not pretending to be a training manual, this book is profusely illustrated with superb colour photographs; and, while it is 10 years since it was first published, it still lives up to its title. It can be ordered from Knauff and Grove, RR #1 Box 414, Julian, Pa 16844 USA (there is a catalogue in the clubhouse) or the British Gliding Association.
(By the way, Exclusive Books at the Waterfront have one copy of Helmut Reichmann's classic Cross- Country Soaring at R435, for those with lots to spend!)
Peter Wooley
Ronnie has also asked that if you DO have an E-mail address, please let him know (or André L. Du Toit). Our new telephone lists are going to include E-MAIL addresses as well. As a reminder, here are our club URL addresses on the WWW.
http://itu3.sun.ac.za/~paulb/cgc.html
http://os2.iafrica.com/sport/gliding
The gliding newsgroup address is..rec.aviation.soaring
Anyway, on another note. I came across this article at one of the club Web pages about Rudolf Kaiser, designer of the Schleicher "K" series gliders.
(We are the owners of one of only 645 Schleicher ASK 13's in the world.)
Rudolf Kaiser was destined to take over the family-owned butcher shop in Coburg; but flying was much closer to his heart, especially soaring. He obtained his C diploma at the age of 20. After the war, while flying was forbidden in Germany, he studied house construction, and graduated in 1952.
This knowledge, along with considerable self studying, led to the design and building of his first glider, a small single seater which he called the Ka 1. It was completed in his home in 1952 while he was still honing his design skills.
His next glider, the two seat Ka 2, was created for Alexander Schleicher, the sailplane manufacturer in Poppenhausen. his high wing, forward swept trainer introduced a totally new concept in sailplane design. Next came the Ka 3, a modified version of his first glider, but with a steel tube fuselage, followed by the popular Ka 4 trainer, better known as the "Rhinlerche".
Rudolf Kaiser made his talents available to Egon Scheibe from October 1953 to April 1955. Here he designed the legendary "Zugvogel" which remained the Ka 5 in his personal register. The "Zugvogel" featured a laminar airfoil and was the best performing production sailplane in the world at the time.
By now, Rudolf had his Silver C, which he obtained in his little Ka 1. For his Gold C he needed something better. So, while still working for Scheibe, he again started building a sailplane for himself, the Ka 6. It featured a monocoque plywood fuselage, tapered wood/fabric wings and a clean, smooth outline. It crested the wood construction era, and later earned the OSTIV prize for the best new design in 1958.
After Schleicher put it into production it became the most popular Standard Class sailplane, winning two World Championships (1960 and 1963), and continued to dominate the winners lists at contests all over the world for ten years! 1368 Ka 6's were built. Several are still flying. It is hard to find someone willing to sell you one. Its excellent flying characteristics have become the standards that other designs are compared to.
The Ka 6 notwithstanding, Rudolf Kaiser's greatest contributions were in the field of trainers and intermediate sailplanes. The Ka 7 (511 built), Ka 8 (1212) and ASK 13 (645) are familiar to soaring pilots everywhere. The lesser known ASK 18 is currently in production in Argentina. Two motor gliders, the ASK 14 and 16, complete his diversified product line. The introduction of fibre-reinforced resins in sailplane production did not deter Rudolf Kaiser who, unlike most of his contemporary colleagues, eagerly adopted this new technology. Based on the considerable experience of the Schleicher company, and with the encouragement of his well-known colleague, Gerhard Waibel, he designed the ASK 2l two place trainer, which was test flown in 1978, and is still in production.
A natural consequence was a single place club ship to complement the trainer. Thus the ASK 23 was born; a modern glass ship with the good performance and docile characteristics of his earlier wood and fabric designs. The ASK 23 was test flown on October 20th, 1983. With the completion of the certification process, at the age of 61, Rudolf Kaiser retired, leaving his niche in the design department to Martin Heide.
One of the great things about the NEWS GROUPS on the Internet is the ability to discuss issues with folk from all over the world. I picked up the discussion on GPS's. I thought it might be interesting to follow a typical discussion. Wherever there is a "> " it means that the person is quoting what a previous individual has stated, and is reacting (replying) to that.
> I am having a problem with this GPS based soaring question...
Aha! A kindred spirit!
> Have any of you ever heard of Orienteering? This is a very popular sport which involves travelling cross country (usually by foot) for time with only a compass and a map to guide you. The appeal of this sport lies not simply in the physical ability to negotiate difficult terrain, but in the intellectual challenge of finding one's way while doing so. I feel that this applies to Soaring as well.
So do I.
> As a relative newcomer to Soaring (5 years), I may not be overly qualified to address this issue as it relates to soaring but I can say that as a long time "Orienteerer", I would miss the navigational challenge presented by non GPS oriented soaring.
Me too.
> The issue of GPS usage has already been decided for the 15m, Std., and Open classes. So far though, the Sports Class appears to have resisted the temptation to jump in. Since I plan to participate in Sports Class soon, I have a vested interest in the resolution of this issue.
> Can we have a discussion on the merits of GPS before this issue becomes part of the lore of Soaring?
I tried to provoke some discussion of these issues in my article "Technology and the Nature of Sport" in the July 1995 issue of Soaring. I received quite a bit of correspondence decrying some of the effects of technology on soaring, but most seem to feel that it's a lost cause.
This forum (rec.aviation.soaring) is perhaps not the best place to look for critical reviews of technology.
For example, as w20@ix.netcom.com (WILLIAM BERLE ) wrote
> Although GPS takes the navigation skills out of the contest results, the good news is that it takes the navigation skills out of the contest results!
Soaring competition would be just dandy without it becoming a navigation contest.
This eliminates a major piloting skill from the competition. What are we trying to measure? The ability to follow a gaggle and avoid collisions may be important, but so is navigation.
> Home field advantage is not a measure of who is the better pilot, folks. It is impossible to equalize the home field advantage in terms of weather knowledge, but we can do something about navigation advantage. Ask anyone from California who tried to find the turnpoint "Briscoes Catarina Ranch" near Uvalde Texas.
Home field advantage can be countered by getting extra practice days in, by flying an airplane around to look at the more obscure turnpoints, by talking to local pilots about the turnpoints, and by hosting a contest on your own turf.
> I got lost there and placed far lower than I should have for the task. A GPS unit would have allowed the scoresheet to show which pilots flew better or worse than me that day, not whose map and compass skills were higher. Same for anyone flying in my neck of the woods who doesn't have the ability to learn California navigation, although it is the easiest around. Equalizing the navigational advantages is a big step towards scoring on pilot ability only, not who has local knowledge or a better tuned glider. This is just what the World Class was designed for in the first place. I think that both concepts therefore complement each other very well, and GPS should be allowed in WC contests as well as all others.
What is "pilot ability" without pilotage, dead reckoning, and other aspects of navigation? I think soaring contests should measure these things.
> The safety advantages,
Questionable. Two pilots in my club who fly with GPS have gotten themselves into unsafe situations by key in errors while ignoring the view out the cockpit.
> easier retrieves,
Probably. But can I drive GPS direct?
> scoring without film advantages,
Definitely an advantage.
> and more precise final glide calculations are also important.
Also possibly a safety problem. Pilots may shave margins tighter than before and be unprepared for unexpected weather. I hope Sports Class and World Class remain free of GPS assistance in the cockpit. Contests should be held in locations where airspace incursions can reasonably be prevented by pilotage. The best use of GPS is for turnpoint verification.
> > As a relative newcomer to Soaring (5 years), I may not be overly qualified to address this issue as it relates to soaring but I can say that as a long time "Orienteerer", I would miss the navigational challenge presented by non GPS oriented soaring.
> Me too.
I think the real challenge in soaring is navigating the atmosphere, and a GPS is not going to be much help there. Finding an obscure turnpoint is an irritation, not a challenge. When I fly a task the challenge is to find the best lift and make the best use of it to get to the goal, not to decide if it's this intersection or the one next to it that is the turnpoint.
When a pilot fails to achieve the goal and lands out or gets around in a slow time, you don't hear much complaining. When half the field at a contest spend large amounts of time looking for a turnpoint that is tricky to find you hear lots of unhappy pilots complaining. Knowing where the turnpoints are, and when you have rounded them, would increase the enjoyment of flying at contests. There's nothing worse than getting penalties for technical errors with your photos, eg being out of quadrant, target not visible, etc. Except perhaps flying a task in a good time and then not being able to find some turnpoint even though you are right over it.
> > The safety advantages,
> Questionable. Two pilots in my club who fly with GPS have gotten themselves into unsafe situations by key in errors while ignoring the view out the cockpit. One safety disadvantage I have heard mentioned is the accuracy of navigation now possible means pilots can round a turnpoint and head straight to the next on a very precise heading. Just like all the other pilots. So now you have a gaggle of pilots rounding the last turnpoint and final gliding for the finish on precisely the same heading, with their heads down calculating how fast to do their glide. This must increase the chances of an air to air collision.
> Also possibly a safety problem. Pilots may shave margins tighter than before and be unprepared for unexpected weather.
The pilots that shave the margins to nothing soon find that they get less points for landing short than finishing. The problem there is not the GPS or the glide calculator.
Well, there you are! What do you think?
Pleasant soaring
Paul
BGA Instructors' Manual: one bound copy @ R 65.00.
Contact Peter Wooley at 686 3883 (h) or 400 3198 (w).