Re: [Aus-soaring] Aerodynamics
On 27 Aug 2015, at 10:50 am, Ross McLean ross...@bigpond.net.au wrote: Beautiful! And despite what CASA says, these guys had no problems mounting GoPro's on the wings. It’s an Experimental. CASA is happy for you to mount as many gopros on the wings of those as you like, as long as they undergo the same phase-1 testing as the rest of the airframe. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Aerodynamics
There's plenty of guidance from SAAA. If you’ve built an EAB aircraft, you’re the manufacturer, you’re the authority that approves modifications. So if you want to put a camera mount on it, you just need to give due consideration in the design to make sure it doesn’t fall off (same as any other airframe part), test fly it, and get happy. - mark On Aug 31, 2015, at 2:46 PM, Peter Champness plchampn...@gmail.com wrote: Is there a CASA web page about experimental aircraft phase 1 testing? On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 8:47 AM, Mark Newton new...@atdot.dotat.org mailto:new...@atdot.dotat.org wrote: On 27 Aug 2015, at 10:50 am, Ross McLean ross...@bigpond.net.au mailto:ross...@bigpond.net.au wrote: Beautiful! And despite what CASA says, these guys had no problems mounting GoPro's on the wings. It’s an Experimental. CASA is happy for you to mount as many gopros on the wings of those as you like, as long as they undergo the same phase-1 testing as the rest of the airframe. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net mailto:Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] try it out
Okay, some of you have worse spam filtering than I do :-) Can we all agree that reposting it to the list is a terrible idea? - mark On 19 Aug 2015, at 6:31 pm, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: me too. Mike At 06:25 PM 8/19/2015, you wrote: Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary==_NextPart_000_01C0_01D0DAAC.6085B5B0 Content-Language: en-au I certainly saw it before Derek posted his response Mark. signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] try it out
On Aug 18, 2015, at 9:40 AM, Derek Ruddock drudd...@iinet.net.au wrote: As if anyone is foolish enough to click on a link like this… I don’t think anybody on aus-soaring saw the link until you forwarded it to the list, because non-subscriber posts are rejected specifically to keep things like this away. But you’re a subscriber, so it accepted your message just fine. So whatever it is, you’ve exposed several hundred people who wouldn’t have otherwise seen it. :-) Just sayin’. (and yes: Kinda silly to click on things like this. And to forward them.) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] important
On Aug 18, 2015, at 7:57 PM, brett pound brett_po...@hotmail.com wrote: You really do have malware to deal with Please don’t do this. By turning yourself into the transmission vector, you’re making yourself part of the problem. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] OzRunways Briefing - Live Traffic
I’ll ask Bas and find out. - mark On Jul 21, 2015, at 10:33 AM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Web based traffic awareness. Could OzRunways and AvPlan make their systems interoperable? Mike OzRunways Briefing Live Traffic OzRunways is the first and only EFB in the world to display live traffic on the iPad. With OzRunways you can: View live traffic on the map Tap to enlarge and display the flight plans of nearby traffic Share and view tracks on tx.ozrunways.com http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=32881403fae=0a4d444ea0 Viewing Traffic When aircraft are airborne and running OzRunways, they will participate in the OzRunways traffic network. Your position and flight plan are sent in a special packet format specially designed by OzRunways to work with maximum speed and reliability in even the poorest network conditions. The data use is tiny at only 350kb per hour. Other aircraft appear as blue circles. The outer pointer is the GPS track. The inner number is relative altitude. For example this aircraft is 2100 ft above you tracking south east. Traffic with no callsign set appear as 'Unknown'. You can set your callsign in OzRunways â Settings â Traffic or by assigning an aircraft to your flight plan. View live traffic on the web The new Share button presents a variety of social media options. These help your SAR person, friends and family to follow your flight in real time or to download a KML track after you land (or go missing). These options appear when you install Facebook, Twitter and set up your email and Message apps. The new traffic icon at the top of the map screen toggles the blue traffic icons from appearing on the map. You will continue to send your position with this disabled. https://tx.ozrunways.com http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=6f2a115feee=0a4d444ea0 You can view all OzRunways traffic live on the web http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=4754e486e4e=0a4d444ea0. You can also download or view your past flights. Tap on aircraft to show details. Red aircraft are real. Blue are simulators. Search and Rescue AMSA has limited access to the data and 24hr contact with OzRunways to help if you or somebody you know goes missing. Privacy. OzRunways respects your privacy. The traffic system is opt-in and can be completely disabled at any time in Settings â Traffic. Our privacy policy can be found here http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=6766ceb9e2e=0a4d444ea0. Copyright © 2015 OzRunways Pty Ltd, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up via our web site, inside the app, or you have a paid subscription. Our mailing address is: OzRunways Pty Ltd PO Box 669 Freeling, SA 5372 Australia Add us to your address book http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage1.com/vcard?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=033f5c8670 unsubscribe from this list http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage2.com/unsubscribe?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=033f5c8670e=0a4d444ea0c=ab6e77329d update subscription preferences http://ozrunways.us4.list-manage1.com/profile?u=278909621e741473665c63b33id=033f5c8670e=0a4d444ea0 Borgelt Instruments - design manufacture of quality soaring instrumentation since 1978 www.borgeltinstruments.com http://www.borgeltinstruments.com/tel: 07 4635 5784 overseas: int+61-7-4635 5784 mob: 042835 5784 : int+61-42835 5784 P O Box 4607, Toowoomba East, QLD 4350, Australia ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Perlan
There’s a good interview with Einar Endevoldson from the Perlan project in the Airplane Geeks podcast here: http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2015/07/01/airplanegeeks-357-einar-enevoldson-and-the-perlan-project/ http://www.airplanegeeks.com/2015/07/01/airplanegeeks-357-einar-enevoldson-and-the-perlan-project/ He sounds like he’s had a fascinating career. Worth a listen. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] more on ADSB
On May 29, 2015, at 8:01 AM, Michael Zupanc m...@zupy.net wrote: Spot trackers seem to be very popular, but probably just because they are one of the older brands, but Spot does not have global coverage. Anyone wishing to use such a device should do some homework and determine exactly what coverage they require as the Systems which use geostationary satellites are typically cheaper. But a cheap phone is rather useless if it doesn't work where you are :-)… We’re not exactly flying in Antarctica. http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=108 http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=108 - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] more on ADSB
On 28 May 2015, at 4:25 pm, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: It has been pointed out to me that all we really need is the cellphone network. Implement flight tracking for everyone using the web via the cellphone 3 or 4G and receive the information on tracked aircraft via the same method. Essentially unlimited range and 15 second updates are plenty at longer ranges. AMSA are about to implement the tracking via AvPlan so you can let them know you'll be doing this. If you don't show up it will help the search. That’s essentially what Spot Trackers are: Hockey-pucks that know how to send Iridium satphone SMSs, so they can work anywhere, including where terrestrial cellphones aren’t. - mark signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] ADS-B mandate
On May 21, 2015, at 3:27 PM, Nigel Andrews n.andr...@andrewselectronic.com.au wrote: Yes the mandate does not mean everyone. Interestingly enough the attitude of the US pilots has changed. A friend of mine attended a convention in the USA a month ago and the general feeling now is that most prefer to be voluntarily fitting ADS-B out be it UAT or 1090 or both as they see the benefits in being able to see others and have their glass screens issue warnings if a potential collision is arising. Most are installing ADS-B OUT because once you’ve spent money on the TSO GPS source and the ADS-B transponder, the incremental additional cost of ADS-B IN is pretty small. In the US (and unlike Australia), ADS-B IN comes with extra services. The low-bandwidth data channel used in extended squitter mode is used to provide near-real-time weather info, so anyone flying with EFIS/PFD systems gets something roughly equivalent to a time-delayed weather radar with traffic avoidance data superimposed on it. That’s desirable enough to spend a few grand on. For less than $5k in the E/AB market, you can equip your glass panel with some stupidly impressive situational awareness capabilities. Australia has chosen not to go down that route. There’s very little benefit to a GA pilot from ADS-B: There’s no weather data provided, and collision avoidance with IFR traffic is virtually unchanged because most IFR traffic has TCAS which works perfectly well with mode-C transponders, and virtually no VFR traffic has ADS-B OUT. ADS-B provides traffic density benefits to airlines, and cost benefits to ATC, and there’s no great incentive to VFR aircraft operators to pay their own good money to subsidize Qantas, Virgin and Air Services Australia’s operations. Remember ADS-B also can give you airspace clearance as ATC will be using this more and more. Air Services will be happy to work with mode-C for the indefinite future. They’re installing ground stations and satellite transponders for ADS-B, but they’re not decommissioning their existing radar systems, so if you’re sufficiently well equipped to get clearances now you’ll continue to be sufficiently well equipped to get them well into the dim dark future. We should be pushing the UAT version of ADS-B, far superior to 1090 transponder technology and offers a full datalink capability so weather warnings, ATC directions etc can be broadcasted. We only went down the road of using 1090 here because a lot of the commercial aircraft were fitted with mode S transponders and only needed to add an approved GPS source to go ADS-B That ship has sailed. Australia had this argument a decade and a half ago, between Air Services and the airlines, before private aviators even knew there was an issue they needed to get upset about. By the time any of us worked out how poor the Australian variant of ADS-B was going to be for private VFR, it was all over bar the shouting. It ain’t going to change now. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Aviation APPs
On May 4, 2015, at 7:12 PM, Mal Bruce m...@mals.net wrote: Any other apps worth downloading? I’ve been giving RWY Go a try on the iPhone. It does a few things very well, without needing any effort to use it: Just start it up, and info relevant to your current phase of flight will be onscreen. It’s probably even better suited for a smartwatch, but I can’t currently justify shelling out for one of those. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Aus-soaring Digest, Vol 139, Issue 54
On 29 Apr 2015, at 1:04 pm, Richard Frawley rjfraw...@gmail.com wrote: Just wondering if we all OK with product suppliers using this list towards their direct commercial benefit? This has been covered before. Generally speaking: Yes. It’s a small community, everyone knows who’s selling what. If it degenerated into a spam list that’d be one thing, but this little community has been running now for, what, two decades? and it doesn’t seem to have done that, so there doesn’t seem to be much point in getting uptight about it. - mark signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] varios, redundancy
It's easy: point the nose away from the field and wait. You'll be out of gliding distance in no time. - mark On 27 Apr 2015, at 8:55 pm, Matthew Scutter yellowplant...@gmail.com wrote: Which turns out to be remarkably self enforcing, because for someone who's only ever flown with a vario it's extraordinarily hard to get out of gliding distance without one. On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 8:38 PM, Sean Jorgensen-Day sean.jorgensen...@bigpond.com wrote: “For the paleo engineless gliders you are likely to risk an outlanding with its attendant hazards. Pretty stupid to risk breaking your glider or yourself over lack of a backup.” So you are saying that a outlanding is a risky occurrence? People are outlanding all the time, except for a few occasions they seem to be walking away and still have a glider they can use. Maybe we should ban outlandings? Suggested new rule may read: “You must remain in gliding distance of a suitable landing point, unless you have a working vario.” ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Obtaining a CASA Glider Pilot License on the way to an FAA Glider Pilot's License
On 17 Apr 2015, at 6:43 pm, Ron Sanders resand...@gmail.com wrote: Mate i would rather do it the way i did. Take a holiday at St Auban, practice a few circuit type radio calls EN FRANCAIS, do a fliht test and Voila!! here is your French glider pilots ICAO compliant LICENSE, with photo etc etc. The yanks will recognise that, In the mean time good flying, beautiful scenery, good food good wine, what a comparison!! They’ll “recognize” that in the same way they recognize an Australian Part 61 license, in that the FAA will make you jump through the same hoops to turn it into an American one before you can fly an N-registered glider. Now that CASA offers an ICAO-compliant Glider Pilot License, other ICAO contracting states are likely to defer to them for license equivalency. You may find that France is less accommodating now than it was a year ago (and if they haven’t changed yet, just give them time…) - mark signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Obtaining a CASA Glider Pilot License on the way to an FAA Glider Pilot's License
On 17 Apr 2015, at 5:44 pm, Simon Hackett si...@base64.com.au wrote: http://simonhackett.com/2015/04/17/australian-to-usa-glider-pilot-license/ So, err - Are you going to fly yourself to the US for teh face to face meeting with the FAA? (“We’re not happy ’til you’re not happy!”) - mark signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Obtaining a CASA Glider Pilot License on the way to an FAA Glider Pilot's License
On 17 Apr 2015, at 6:50 pm, Redmond Quinn rqu...@adelaide.on.net wrote: See attached CASA form 61-1GP. Item 3 clearly states: If CASA does not have a photo of you that is 10 years old, you must also submit Form 61-9PIC. It would seem to me that it would be easier to dig around your files and find a 10 year old photo and send it to CASA ;-) Maybe they actually want a photo of him from when he was 10. - mark signature.asc Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] IS29D life extension
On Apr 16, 2015, at 9:34 AM, DMcD slutsw...@gmail.com wrote: I know that for smaller clubs this is a difficult scenario but I don't believe the small gliding movement in Australia can have one foot nailed to the ground by trying to keep heritage aircraft flying. The “gliding movement” doesn’t have to keep heritage aircraft flying; that’s what their owners do. The “gliding movement” should surely invest at least a little bit of effort to ensure that it isn’t arbitrarily impossible for owners to make the attempt. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Registration markings
On 7 Jan 2015, at 5:00 pm, Mike Cleaver wom...@netspeed.com.au wrote: You are correct that at present there is no requirement for registration markings under the wings on any aircraft below 5700 kg MTOW operated in Australia. The exemption was renewed in 2012 and falls due again at the end of this month: since I am not aware of any formal post-implementation review of Part 45 I would expect that it will be renewed for a further 3 years at that time. Assuming CASA doesn’t just forget to renew it. There’s a legislative instrument which enables people to issue maintenance releases on Experimental Amateur-Built Aircraft which has a three year expiry. Renewal involves changing the date on the last one. Despite the expiry being an entirely predictable event, the last two occasions have featured periods of time when it was unlawful to do an annual on an experimental aircraft because CASA plainly and simply forgot to renew their own paperwork. http://www.saaa.com/Portals/0/PDFs/CASA%2013033%20(2).pdf http://www.saaa.com/Portals/0/PDFs/CASA%2013033%20(2).pdf When reminded last time, they said it was going to take weeks due to a shortage of legislative drafters. When pressed by people who had grounded aircraft due solely to CASA’s inability to follow their own procedures, they actually did it in a few days. It’ll expire again next year. I wonder if they’ve discovered “Calendar Reminders,” or if CASA senior management have dealt with the failures to do their jobs inherent in the fact that they neglected to budget for enough legislative drafters to deal with their entirely predictable workload. And the Forsyth Review didn’t recommend any sackings. Amazing. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] IS-28B CQC's last flying day:
On 24 Dec 2014, at 8:21 pm, Derek Ruddock drudd...@iinet.net.au wrote: So when the student finally hops into the Jantar he thinks, great, If I spin, I’ll have at least 1500feet before I reach VNE? Sorry, but I think that teaching REAL spinning characteristics and recovery (and hence why spins should be avoided) is more important than simulations I learned to spin in a Puchatek and a Bergfalke. Having learned, I can’t say that spin entry differs much at all between them, Libelles, Pik-20D’s, ASG-29s, Super Decathlons and RV-6s. A spin is a spin. Why would teaching it in a DG-1000 be any different from anything else? (and how do you reach VNE in a spin at all?) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] IS-28B CQC's last flying day:
On 24 Dec 2014, at 11:02 pm, Grant Davies gr...@davies.id.au wrote: 1. Regarding spinning; I am under the impression aerobatics is prohibited under 2,000ft without endorsement. I am also lead to believe a spin is an aerobatic manoeuvre. Check your Operational Regulations: Aerobatic minimum in gliders is 1000’. (probably set so that GFA could legally train spins from the top of winch launches) As for being an aerobatic manoeuvre: Do you have an aerobatic endorsement? Did the instructor who taught you spins? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] : Hawaiian Pawnee tug in the drink
On 24 Dec 2014, at 10:11 pm, Peter (PCS3) p...@internode.on.net wrote: Great place to ridge soar unless the vog is blown in from the Big Island volcano. f/vog like when we were there. The ridge is parallel and about a klm from the runway. I visited in 2008. The commercial operation there has a clause in their ops manual saying they can’t ridge soar, which was a bit disappointing. I suppose you could as a private owner, but there’s no club as such. The “joyflights” are carried out by people with little or no gliding experience: Aerotow to 5000’, float down, land. I didn’t get the impression that the pilots knew or cared much about thermalling, the one I flew with was sensitive to unusual attitudes and got nervous when I slowed to thermalling speed, and didn’t want to know about flying close to the rocks. Bit of a waste of a good site. It’d be great in a northerly! - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] IS-28B CQC's last flying day:
On 24 Dec 2014, at 12:27 am, Al Borowski al.borow...@gmail.com wrote: Is there nothing like an 'Experimental' category in the glider world? It seems weird to me that I can (in theory) jump into a home-designed ultralight powered with a lawnmower motor, but can't operate a glider grounded due to a paperwork issue. The issue is fraught. GFA can issue experimental C-of-A's (or could until an audit a year or two ago, at any rate). But experimental aircraft can't be flown for hire or reward, including training; so a club can't feasibly operate them. CASA seems to take a dim view of an aircraft which meets a type certificate in all requirements except service life being operated as experimental. Except they're not consistent about it, because they obviously allow warbirds to remain in service well past their design life. You could probably operate a glider on an experimental C-of-A if it has a genuinely experimental feature, and if it was operated privately. Perhaps the IS28's at CQC wouldn't fit that template, - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Gliding Philipines?
I’m in Manila right now. If I’d known this was part of the world where something like this was even possible, I might have stayed for longer! - mark On Nov 18, 2014, at 6:41 PM, Matthew Scutter yellowplant...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.aviationsocietyphilippines.org/blog/?tag=nampicuan On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 11:35 PM, Christopher McDonnell wommamuku...@bigpond.com wrote: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/99432/german-national-survives-nueva-ecija-plane-crash ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] flying near the ground during finishes
On Oct 24, 2014, at 2:39 PM, Grietje Wansink grietje.wans...@gmail.com wrote: I hope I have misunderstood this sentence: I will make one comment – DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES THINK THAT THIS CANNOT HAPPEN TO YOU. The history of gliding is full of reports of EXPERT pilots who fucked-up and ended up very dead! BEWARE, and be aware. (Gary Stevenson) If this could happen to anyone, this would be a dangerous sport. It is a dangerous sport, isn’t it? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Press
On Oct 24, 2014, at 8:10 PM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Now I also wonder if going to the ground 3km short of the airfield can be construed as a prescribed takeoff or landing procedure. Doesn't look like it to me. In which case it would seem to be in contravention of the CAR about not flying below 500 feet (100feet if ridge soaring). MOSP 10.8 at http://gfa.org.au/operations-1/manuals/672-gfa-mosp-2-ops-0002/file : Descent below 500’ is permitted under the conditions stated within 5km of the destination ALA. Was originally published as an OD several years ago, following agreement with CASA on the details. The OD was cancelled when the new MOSP was issued. Note that there’s an expectation that you’re carrying enough energy to fit into the traffic pattern when you reach the field — which will mean pulling up into a circuit if you’re arriving downwind, or being able to overfly a runway obstacle if you’re arriving upwind. Or, in broader terms, the procedure is supposed to be executed in parallel with a “don’t be a dickhead” rule. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Coroner's complacency finding on glider crash
On 4 Oct, 2014, at 8:07 am, Peter Champness plchampn...@gmail.com wrote: The take off/landing area seems to be the most vulnerable area because that is where the flight paths cross most often. Have a look at the diagram at the bottom of page 8 on this ATSB report from ten years ago. http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/36828/Review_of_midair_col.pdf Each red dot represents a mid-air collision in Australia in the circuit area between 1961 and 2003. It's like a 2-D histogram, most likely place for a mid-air seems to be on final approach. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Cessna 182 tow hook information/drawings
On Sep 18, 2014, at 10:36 PM, Andrew Horton gliderpi...@ozemail.com.au wrote: EFY is a skydiving C182 and has been for some time. RLC appears now to be a helicopter, according to the aircraft register. Does it have a tow hook on it? ‘cos that could be a lot of fun. - mark :-) ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Controlling attitude
I reckon there will be a bunch of people who’ve read some of the posts on this mailing list today who’ll be saying, “I don’t see the problem. It’s just a bit of harmless fun. Doesn’t hurt anybody.” Guys say that all the time, never realizing that the only reason they're able to say it is because they’ve typically been utterly indifferent to whether their fun is, indeed, “harmless,” or whether it has hurt anybody. I don’t know, perhaps parents of girls have a different view. Perspective and experience. The reason it usually passes without mention is because most women, having put up with it for their entire living memory, are so sick of it that they can’t be bothered going through the exhausting rigmarole of engaging anymore, and just remove themselves from situations where it’s a problem; and because so many men, harboring a cataclysmic failure of empathy, don’t even notice the reactions of women, and just let it slide without saying anything. “The secret life of women.” http://i.imgur.com/OigLS.png (I know the cartoonist: He told me some of these quotes were provided by his daughter) In case you haven’t noticed (and I’m almost certain that some of you actually haven’t), gliding is almost entirely dominated by men. There’s no physical reason why that should be the case. There’s also no innate gender-based difference in skill to explain it either. I’m going to say it’s cultural: The traditions and attitudes present at gliding clubs all over Australia are, either overtly (like today’s email messages) or subtly (like so much of everything else) repulsive to women. I’ve seen so many women enjoy their AEF, stick with it for a couple of weekends, and never come back. And thousands of pilots barely ever wonder why that’s the case. Over time, gliding clubs become male ghettos, all over Australia. “What we walk past, we accept.” When we’re learning to fly, the first lesson we’re taught is stability. The second lesson we’re taught is how to change our attitude. This community seems absolutely excellent at stability. When it comes to sexism, maybe it ought to be skilled enough to master attitude. There’ll no doubt be replies to this message. I’ve said my piece, I’m not going to respond to any of them them. But I, like everyone else who reads them, will be making character judgements regardless. If you find that idea challenging, perhaps take 24 hours to have a good hard think about why. Fin. - mark [ I will also reserve judgement over whether off-list replies should be forwarded to the list. There will be no shadows here. ] ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Hail damage
On 11 Sep, 2014, at 10:28 am, Ron resand...@gmail.com wrote: What was wrong with the weather radar?? Before or after? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Cost, hail damage
People, please. (got a problem with retaining women in gliding? yeah, probably got one of those. God only knows why, eh?) - mark On 12 Sep, 2014, at 7:27 am, Justin Sinclair jjsincl...@optusnet.com.au wrote: Hi Simon, unfortunately that is a Schleicher model, no amount of money short of the GDP of NewZealand will fix it. ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 2, 2014, at 3:48 PM, Paul Bart pb2...@gmail.com wrote: Thank you for a detailed and logical post. Frankly I do not think I would take issue with most points you make. I simply think my personal experience is different. I am not a member of any other flying organisation so I cannot compare. That’s fine, we all come from different backgrounds, and different things are important to all of us. That’s one of the points I was making. For those of us for whom “the freedom of flight” is important in the manner I described, GFA has literally nothing to offer us - indeed, its very existence is an impediment (the CASA GPL would likely be very different if GFA had not been involved in it) The fact is that I do not see that GFA impedes what I want to do, nor what a majority of glider pilots I personally know (a limited sample) do. Does a level 2 instructor impedes my flying, not in the least, do I feel in any way supervised? Not in the least. When it is my turn to run the day, do I interfere with any of the solo pilots? No. It’s not a question of interference, that isn’t the point. You cannot take responsibility for rigging a glider, because GFA seems to be saying that its trained certificate holders lack the alacrity to perform that task without someone else looking over their shoulder and countersigning. When you are running a day, you are on an undefined, open-ended legal liability hook for any accidents or injuries they suffer. Could you have prevented an actionable event by preventing a launch? Even if you couldn’t, could an insurance company’s lawyer paint a picture that says you could? You might not even know those other pilots, but you’ve “taken charge” of their operation. Do you know what that means? And anyone who isn’t an instructor should feel “in any way supervised” because that’s what the instructor’s actual job is. Everyone is under supervision. All the time. I don’t know how to describe how oppressive that is for the group of pilots for whom “freedom of flight” is important; how much the knowledge that you can never be so well trained or well skilled that you can be trusted to command your own aircraft can suck the enjoyment out of the sport — When that’s precisely the expectation held by pilots in literally every other aviation discipline I’ve ever come into contact with. I can remember 14 years ago, one of the very first aus-soaring messages I ever read was Mike Borgelt making the entirely reasonable observation that it is impossible for a L2 Independent Operator to legally fly his own self-launching glider out of his own private airfield, because the act of rigging it requires another GFA member to be physically present to countersign the maintenance release. 14 years later, nothing has changed. How is that possible? That renders the entire L2 Independent Operator rating worthless. How pathetic is it that so much time can pass without such an obvious regulatory defect being closed? So the only time I feel as a second-class aviator is when i hook into a 6 kt thermal and I know that Alan Barnes would be doing 8 :). That’s just Imposter Syndrome. Alan Barnes knows Ingo would be doing 12. :) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 2, 2014, at 4:04 PM, Paul Bart pb2...@gmail.com wrote: For most members, it’s either get behind GFA or be grounded. But most members just may be happy with that. And that is my point, there is no evidence, besides quoting few individual cases, to suggest that it is GFA that is causing causing all the problems in the gliding land. Nobody has made the claim that GFA is causing all the problems in the gliding land. Some of us are making the claim that GFA is causing all of the problems with GFA rules about the independence of pilots, and that those rules cause some of the problems in gliding land. I reckon evidence “quoting a few individual cases” should be sufficient in a member-driven organization to get those few individual cases dealt with. GFA isn’t a government department or a multinational company: It’s a small org with a mere handful of members, there’s no reason why they can’t be responsive about things like this. Especially given a decade and a half, three redraftings of the independent operator rules, a draft OD about instructorless clubs, and at least two attempts at getting a CASA GPL off the ground: There have been countless opportunities to address these issues, so why is it so hard? A tiny community of overseas competition pilots get their gift-wrapped ICAO license, but it’s sabotaged so that another tiny community of people who want to operate under a license domestically don’t? What’s with that? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 3, 2014, at 12:54 PM, Ulrich Stauss usta...@internode.on.net wrote: · That is a very ‘elastic’ phrase (which should be better defined). If you use club equipment or want to fly from a club owned airfield you are of course dependent on their whims. Even the “proper” licensing overseas does not change that. But if you operate at a location where neither the aircraft/equipment nor the airfield are owned by the resident club (and all else including the independent control check is in order) I can’t see how it would be *illegal* for you to choose to do so independently against the screams of a red faced club CFI. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be ramifications… Whoa, hang on. There are a number of concepts wrapped up in there that are independent from each other. Use of a privately owned airfield: That’s not an operational issue, that’s a property issue. If the property owner doesn’t wish you to use their airfield in the manner you wish, they can demand that you cease and desist and use trespass law to gain satisfaction if you don’t. We’ve had private property laws in our legal system since the Magna Carta, GFA isn’t (or shouldn’t be) involved. Use of a somebody else’s aircraft/equipment: That’s also not an operational issue. When you use someone else’s aircraft, you enter into a hire agreement with them where you gain access to certain goods and services in exchange for some kind of consideration. Maybe the hirer or their insurer will place conditions on the hire, or maybe not. That’s not an operational issue, it’s a contract; GFA isn’t (or shouldn’t be) involved. Separate from all of that is the set of air legislation in Australia, which includes GFA’s OpRegs and MOSP by delegation. That legislation provides for obligations on pilots which are utterly indifferent to notions about who owns what. In non-GFA regulatory systems, if you hire an aircraft and violate the terms of your hire, the hirer can refuse to hire to you any more and take their aircraft back. The civil aviation regulator is not involved, you can rush out and hire another aircraft from someone else whenever you like. In the GFA system, if you hire an aircraft and violate the terms of your hire, any instructor can, at their option, write a logbook annotation which grounds you. The grounding takes immediate effect, and applies to all of your flying nationally, including flying in other peoples’ aircraft, including in aircraft you actually own yourself. The grounding will probably be maintained until the GFA MOSP’s pilot discipline procedures have run their course, which could take months. Because logbook annotations cannot be altered or erased, every club you ever choose to fly with in the future will always be able to see that you’ve been grounded when they flip through the pages of your logbook. That’s what “dependent on their whims” means in the GFA system. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 2, 2014, at 10:50 AM, Paul Bart pb2...@gmail.com wrote: You say When our newcomers realise that they will always be treated as second class aviators we can't blame them when they vote with their feet. Well I have been involved in gliding for some fourteen years now, with a reasonably sized club and I am yet to encounter any pilot being too worried about being classed as second class aviator”. puts hand up Hi, I’m Mark. I’m another 14 year glider pilot, just like you. In addition to a GPC with an L2 instructor rating and a D1109 airworthiness cert, I also have an RAAus pilot certificate, and a CASA PPL(A). During my time in the GFA system, I’ve spent 3 years as a club CFI. I know all about GFA’s attitude towards personal responsibility. I’m yet to encounter any other form of aviation in any other jurisdiction where a trained pilot is not considered responsible for their own actions; or where an instructor is expected to assume some kind of poorly defined “responsibility” for what other trained pilots do, simply by virtue of being present at the time of their launch. … except the military, which is, I believe, where the GFA’s system and attitude originates. There was a time when I didn’t care about any of this: I was a GFA member, a glider pilot, and that’s simply the system, take it or leave it. So I totally understand why it doesn’t matter to some (most) glider pilots. But after exposure to the CASA and RAAus systems, my attitude has changed. The Commonwealth of Australia considers me competent to make and be responsible for all my own decisions relating to my operations and the airworthiness of my aircraft. The GFA does not. That paternalism grates. At each membership renewal since I gained my PPL, I’ve thought a little bit harder about whether I’m prepared to accept the GFA’s increasing tendency to centralize, to oversee, to diminish the responsibility that each pilot has to maintain their own safety. I’ve also thought about the responsibility of instructing, and “taking charge” of an operation that can only be influenced, not controlled, and whether that’s something I want to expose myself to. I’m also increasingly of the view that some of that philosophy reduces safety. There are so many things that GFA pilots can convince themselves they never need to worry about because someone else will second-guess the decision for them. My membership is currently overdue. I’m still thinking. Last weekend I was going to fly my RV out to a gliding club to try them on for size, to have an annual check and see if we we’re a good fit for each other, and see if there are any openings in that I might be able to contribute to. I would have renewed my membership to make that happen, but I had a bad night’s sleep on Saturday night and didn’t assess myself as passing an IMSAFE check for that kind of operation, so I stayed home instead. Now I have some more work travel coming up and it’ll probably be at least a month before I get another opportunity, so maybe I’ll keep thinking about whether GFA’s philosophy is compatible with me until October or November. Here’s something that’s important, which I think is frequently lost: Aviation is a technical discipline, but it has a strong emotional dimension as well. We fly because we get some kind of high out of it: We love it, otherwise we wouldn’t put ourselves through the time and money and setbacks and heartache needed to enjoy it. Different people find that emotional response in different ways. For some people, it’s about flying higher or further or faster or longer than anyone else. For those people, the philosophy of the GFA is utterly irrelevant: As long as they can get into a glider, who cares, right? These are the people the GFA serves the best, in my opinion. For others, emotional reward comes from making contributions. We’re the people who instruct or serve on committees or get airworthiness credentials. For us, the philosophy of the GFA does matter, a bit, because it defines the framework those contributions are made in: It’s unlikely, for instance, that someone will find reward in instructing if they believe GFA’s syllabus provides bad safety outcomes. Then, there’s at least one other group: Entire libraries of books have been written about the gut emotional appeal that the freedom of human flight satisfies. That isn’t just the ability to soar with the birds, it’s also tied up with the fact that it’s one of the few pursuits left where an individual can assume “command responsibility” and make decisions without being second-guessed by a bureaucrat, and be wholly responsible for the outcome of those decisions. For that group, GFA’s philosophy of never yielding control and responsibility to pilots is utterly toxic, and incredibly patronizing. No matter how much training we do, we can never be trusted to assume command of an aircraft under our own recognizance, we’re
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 2, 2014, at 1:31 PM, Robert Izatt thebunyipboo...@gmail.com wrote: An L2 independent operator is required to be supervised when club operations are in play and they are a member of that club. Particularly when a tow is required it is impossible to be independent by definition. In a self-launcher you could argue the case but you have to live in the club environment and courtesy is a valuable commodity. Interesting point of view. Why do you need to be supervised to get a tow? In the US you just pay the tow pilot to launch you: Chartered flight, fee for service, independent operation. Why do you have to live in a club environment? It might be beneficial in some, or even most, cases; but what is the rationale for it being mandatory? If someone doesn’t want to participate in a club, shouldn’t that option be available to them? Why is it optional for every Australian pilot except glider pilots? These are assumptions people make about the GFA system because they’ve never experienced any other ways of doing things. It doesn’t need to be that way. It doesn’t even need to be difficult for it to be a different way. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 2, 2014, at 2:29 PM, Paul Bart pb2...@gmail.com wrote: Finally a number of posters indicated that we may be losing potential glider pilots, because the GFA rules, yet I see people turning their backs on power flying, often citing cost (medicals etc.) and complexity as a reason. I do not know how the numbers stack up, but chances are that neither do you. So it is just a speculation used to prop someones point of view. I know how the numbers stack up, because I do both. A CASA Class-2 medical from a DAME costs $80 plus GST. It is one of the most trivial expenses it’s possible to accrue in aviation, excepting perhaps the $6 it costs to land a GA light aircraft at an AVdata country airport. And as of yesterday, under Part 61 you don’t need one anyway. Switch to a drivers license medical from your GP, fly up to 1500kg MTOW with 1 passenger, fixed pitch, fixed gear, no aerobatics, day VFR. Sold. Anyone who says they’re giving up flying due to the cost of a medical probably flunked theirs because they were on hallucinogenic drugs. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Competition licenses - the emperor has no clothes
On Sep 2, 2014, at 3:29 PM, Paul Bart pb2...@gmail.com wrote: I was not referring to the actual cost of a medical. That can easily be sourced, and you have provided it here. My point referred to what people leave and why. I’ve already told you why I consider leaving, and it’s to do with GFA’s uniquely restrictive rules. But when people say GFA’s rules inspire members to leave, perhaps that’s just a speculation used to prop someone’s point of view, so there’s no need to listen to it. I’m kinda lucky to have the means and wherewithall to have non-GFA flying credentials. I feel a bit sorry for people who don’t, stuck in the GFA system with no alternative. At least I get the luxury of being able to think about my choices. For most members, it’s either get behind GFA or be grounded. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Water Landing
On Aug 29, 2014, at 12:58 PM, dennis hipperson dennishipper...@gmail.com wrote: Also found this: Landing on water: Over the years, there has been an on-going debate on whether it is better to land gear up or gear down on water. Current thought from Tom Knauff is to always land gear down. I’d have expected that the current thought would be to land in accordance with the “Ditching” section in the aircraft’s flight manual. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] BoM data feed to Australian Atmospheric Soundings website
G’day. I’ve recently received email from the Bureau of Meteorology to say that the data feed they’ve historically provided to make http://slash.dotat.org/cgi-bin/atmos work will, in future, cost $1125 per annum. Or, more to the point: The data itself will continue to be free, but there’s a $1125 per annum fee to be a registered user of it. I can get similar data at no cost from University of Wyoming’s Upper Air Project. In my experience, the sounding data from there is delayed by an hour or so, because they get it from the BoM too, then process it before they make it available. I see a non-trivial number of HTTP server hits on my website, so I know people are still using the facility. But server hits don’t tell me if they’re getting value out of it. So: Is it still useful? My options, as I see them, are: 1. Pay BoM, 2. Refactor the code to fetch from UoW, and accept that it’ll run a little bit late; or 3. Shut down the site. Currently leaning towards (2), but nobody is getting value out of it then (3) is clearly my path of least resistance. Thoughts, comments, requests? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] BoM data feed to Australian Atmospheric Soundings website
About the same. - mark On 20 Aug 2014, at 17:47, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: How does the timing of the latest chart compare with simply getting it here? http://www.bom.gov.au/aviation/observations/aerological-diagrams/ Mike At 04:49 PM 20/08/2014, you wrote: G’day. I’ve recently received email from the Bureau of Meteorology to say that the data feed they’ve historically provided to make http://slash.dotat.org/cgi-bin/atmos work will, in future, cost $1125 per annum. Or, more to the point: The data itself will continue to be free, but there’s a $1125 per annum fee to be a registered user of it. I can get similar data at no cost from University of Wyoming’s Upper Air Project. In my experience, the sounding data from there is delayed by an hour or so, because they get it from the BoM too, then process it before they make it available. I see a non-trivial number of HTTP server hits on my website, so I know people are still using the facility. But server hits don’t tell me if they’re getting value out of it. So: Is it still useful? My options, as I see them, are: 1. Pay BoM, 2. Refactor the code to fetch from UoW, and accept that it’ll run a little bit late; or 3. Shut down the site. Currently leaning towards (2), but nobody is getting value out of it then (3) is clearly my path of least resistance. Thoughts, comments, requests? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring Borgelt Instruments - design manufacture of quality soaring instrumentation since 1978 www.borgeltinstruments.com tel: 07 4635 5784 overseas: int+61-7-4635 5784 mob: 042835 5784 : int+61-42835 5784 P O Box 4607, Toowoomba East, QLD 4350, Australia ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] BoM data feed to Australian Atmospheric Soundings website
On Aug 21, 2014, at 10:07 AM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Matt Gage is right too. The chart tells you what was happening at the time of the balloon flight. It used to, but it doesn’t anymore. The chart is essentially an extract from the BoM’s global atmospheric model. The date of the chart doesn’t necessarily bear any resemblance to the date of the balloon (or, indeed, whether there’s a balloon at all) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] BoM data feed to Australian Atmospheric Soundings website
On Aug 21, 2014, at 12:21 PM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: The models need updating or initialising with real observations. According to the BoM in Brisbane, Brisbane at least still launches balloons for the Observations they publish. The bloke I spoke to thought this was also the case for the other stations on the aerological diagrams page. You can do all the modelling you like but weather models drift from reality over time. A few days is all it takes. Nowadays they at least still look like real weather charts. They didn't used to after a while. Hence the need to update with real data. BoM runs a continuous simulation of the global atmosphere which is continuously refreshed with observational data. Some of the observational data does indeed come from balloons, but there is also plenty from other sources, such as instrument packs carried on airliners, radar systems, data obtained from other national weather services, and so on. All of the F160 plots are outputs of the simulation model - i.e., they’re not produced from raw observational data, they’re slices at a point in time produced by the simulation. Some of the sites which used to launch balloons are no longer manned and hence no longer have regular balloon flights, but F160 diagrams are still produced by the simulation model because it simulates the entire atmosphere, not just the bits of air above manned weather stations. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Missing endorsements (was: Re: off topic Colour Blindness)
On 21 Jun 2014, at 21:20, Daryl Mackay darylmac...@gmail.com wrote: I don't know if this will have implications for colour blindness etc. I was told that there will be an opportunity to send in any paperwork that justifies an endorsement that has been left off the new licence but I think that refered to any errors on their part? Ie. If they forget to show a tail wheel endorsement or think it is not appropriate, then you only need to send in a copy of your logbook entry showing this endorsement and they will re-issue another licence. (If this paperwork is sent in within 21 days, again no charge on the re-issued licence) I looked at CASA's portal a bit over a year ago. I noticed that they hadn't listed my retract endorsement in their record keeping system, and the delegate strip ID number shown in my logbook for my tailwheel undercarriage design feature endorsement was listed in their records as a multi-engine endorsement on a PA-34, a light twin that I'd never flown before. Perhaps if I'd kept my mouth shut it would have saved me a lot of money on any future twin engine training :-) But I kinda like flying my tailwheel RV-6 and wanted them to agree that I wasn't breaching regulations by doing so, so I contacted CASA and sent them a scan of my logbook. In the first iteration they fixed up the tailwheel issue. About a year later, following further correspondence, they dealt with the retractable undercarriage problem. Interesting that there were some discrepancies in the paperwork that was sent to them by the school that trained me, which I only got to see by querying their records. I had a bit of a giggle over it. Given that they'd just finished going through GFA like molten lead through a duck over record keeping failures, it was amusing that they didn't have their own house in order, and even more amusing that it took a year to converge their records on my logbook's reality. Maybe they should audit themselves. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] World comps in Finland
On Jul 10, 2014, at 8:08 AM, Robert Izatt thebunyipboo...@gmail.com wrote: Bernard I personally don't have a problem with you promoting your product here but we don't need the Yesterday I was asked to translate the report on the 20m Multi-seat clas excuse to do so. Rob Izatt We’ve had this discussion before: No need for any “excuse” at all. If Bernard wants to promote and support Schleicher it’s no different from Mike promoting and supporting Borgelt Instruments, John sending tables of contents for Gliding International, or Tom forwarding newsletters from DG. It’s harmless, low-volume, and the promotion is good for the sport. So have at it. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Bad news from Germany
Just a quick note: This mailing list hasn’t historically been used for rumor-mongering. For that, I guess people should go to pprune. This community is small enough that someone would know someone involved. It’s worth considering the sensitivities of other readers before stoking a speculation in an information vacuum. If this accident is investigated and it turns out that there are useful safety lessons to be gleaned from it, then have at it. In the meantime, it's worth understanding that “DG 1000 M demonstrator” and “privately held aircraft that was a DG 1000 M demonstrator in 2009” are entirely different things; and once we dispense with that, we’re left with, “something crashed, somewhere,” and it’s hard to see that that’s grist for any mill that’s worth grinding. Regards, - mark On Jun 28, 2014, at 9:50 AM, Ron Sanders resand...@gmail.com wrote: Is there any more news on this matter?? Ron On 27 June 2014 17:14, Future Aviation ec...@internode.on.net wrote: Hello all I have just learned that the DG 1000 M demonstrator was lost killing both experienced occupants on impact. Hopefully this information proves to be incorrect but I must add that it comes from a reliable source. Bernard ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] New Generation Vario
On 23 May 2014, at 12:00 pm, Scott Penrose sco...@dd.com.au wrote: One other valuable feature I think is a good Artificial Horizon. Alright, I'll bite: What do you want one of those for? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Ventus 3.
Bolus. - mark On May 13, 2014, at 9:11 PM, Adam I'Anson adam.ian...@gmail.com wrote: The Dingus Regards, Adam I'Anson On 13 May 2014, at 6:59 pm, Matthew Scutter yellowplant...@gmail.com wrote: I doubt die tritus would fly in german. On 13 May 2014 17:25, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: At 07:32 AM 13/05/2014, you wrote: Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary==_NextPart_000_0031_01CF6E7D.7732D0A0 Content-Language: en-au The Bogus? Love it! However there seem to be multiple reports from different sources that the new glider will happen sooner rather than later. I was told that one dealer ordered 8 of them. I wouldn't expect an 18/21/23 though as that might cut into the Quintus and would leave them without a new 15m glider. BTW what exactly is the Ventus 2axS that Tilo is flying in the GP? Anyway my bet on the new name is Tritus. Maybe Tertius is better Latin but doesn't read or sound as well. Maybe an outside chance for Volus? I guess we'll see. Mike Borgelt Instruments - design manufacture of quality soaring instrumentation since 1978 www.borgeltinstruments.com tel: 07 4635 5784 overseas: int+61-7-4635 5784 mob: 042835 5784 : int+61-42835 5784 P O Box 4607, Toowoomba East, QLD 4350, Australia ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Hand Held Radio Battery
On Mar 11, 2014, at 2:47 PM, Ross McLean ross...@bigpond.net.au wrote: I am hoping someone can help me find a battery supplier for my VHF Handheld radio, the battery has finally given up. It is a Vertex Standard Pro V, VXA-150, and the battery product number is FNB-64. Thank you for any assistance. http://bit.ly/1cspjEd - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Hang Gliding Records on the Bight 28/1/14
On 6 Feb 2014, at 8:40 pm, Peter Champness plchampn...@gmail.com wrote: It looks OK in the pictures but getting below cliff level must have been a bit scary. I wonder why he did that? He spent the whole flight being followed around by a rescue helicopter and a pair of trained surf lifesavers. Probably changes the risk profile just slightly :) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Press-Tuggy to rescue
Now waiting for CASA to amp-up medical standards again. That couldn't possibly happen, could it. - mark On 29 Jan 2014, at 8:43, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Well isn't it lucky that somebody BROKE THE LAW and let the kid get a bit of flying experience. This regulation is one of many utterly stupid ones which need to go. In case anyone is wondering it is mirrored in the GFA MOSP. Mike At 05:58 AM 29/01/2014, you wrote: http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/inside-the-forbes-drama ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring Borgelt Instruments - design manufacture of quality soaring instrumentation since 1978 www.borgeltinstruments.com tel: 07 4635 5784 overseas: int+61-7-4635 5784 mob: 042835 5784 : int+61-42835 5784 P O Box 4607, Toowoomba East, QLD 4350, Australia ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Interview with Ulrich Kremer
Create a Dropbox or Google Drive account. Upload it there, and post the URL to the list. Easy! - mark On 26 Dec 2013, at 9:24, Futue Aviation ec...@internode.on.net wrote: Good morning all The current New Zealand gliding magazine has published an interview with Ulrich Kremer (MD of Schleicher). I’m planning to scan it and put it on aus-soaring but I vaguely remember that there are restrictions on: a) number of attachments and b)the total size of any attachments Does anyone know what these restrictions are? If so, I would appreciate if you could drop me a line on (ec...@internode.on.net). Please enjoy the rest of the Christmas break and lots of safe flying in 2014 to everyone on this list! Bernard Chris Eckey ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Mail delivery issues
Hi folks. Some of you might have had problems delivering mail to aus-soaring over the last few days. The most visible symptom of the problem would have been a bounce message claiming “550 Too many invalid recipients” in response to your posts. Not everyone would have been affected. The problem had an essentially random distribution. I’ve been chasing it down with Internode over the last few days. They’ve identified it and implemented a workaround, so if you’ve had problems posting to the list over the weekend, try again now and it should be fine. Cheers, - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC
On 22 Dec 2013, at 15:10, Christopher McDonnell wommamuku...@bigpond.com wrote: I have $550 and $5000 do I hear any advances. Sold to the lowest bidder! I'm just going by the gate and hangar signs at Bankstown, which definitely say $5000. Might depend on which reg they get you under. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Records in 20 m 2-seater class
On 22 Dec 2013, at 0:21, Catherine Conway c...@internode.on.net wrote: I could wash the Kookaburra ... Oh wait - its 11m not 20m ;) Nail another 4.5m worth of 2x4's on each side. She'll be right. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC
Airside without an ASIC can land you a $5000 fine. If the airport manager is an asshole you'll be evicted from the airside area and won't be able to get your glider back without a security escort. If the airport manager is an even bigger asshole then you won't be given the security escort, and airport staff will remove the aircraft from the secure area some time later and bill you for it. Hope they don't break anything during the derig. The most likely outcome is that nobody will give 5/8ths of a tinker's cuss. Some airports are known to have officious badge-wearing bastards who seem to enjoy throwing their authority around (eg don't land at Mildura without an ASIC half an hour either side of an RPT arrival or departure), but most are just going through the motions of security theatre. In the present environment it's better to either avoid security controlled airports or get an ASIC. Longer term it's better to change the present environment. You might also have trouble getting a car and a trailer onto the field at a security controlled airport. May have not have much to do with the ASIC, some of the larger airports want airport-issued vehicle permits for airside (or billable escorts) - mark On 22 Dec 2013, at 12:34 pm, Christopher McDonnell wommamuku...@bigpond.com wrote: What are the penalties/sanctions if you flop on a RPT aerodrome in a non motorised glider because the day dies for example. I ask only out of curiosity and laziness to research. From: Paul Mander Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 11:21 AM To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC Hi Bob, seems it was a Phurhpy. Here is the latest from our CFI: I have researched the issues behind the petition re ASIC cards and am now understand what it behind this. Firstly, as Paul Mander pointed out I was not clear in my previous note. We do not have an exemption from the ASIC card but we do have an exemption from the AVID card. The ASIC card allows access to security areas in airfields. The AVID card is part of a power licence and is a security clearance for a pilot. This proposal effectively asks to replace the ASIC card with the AVID card – which could have raised the issue that we have an exemption from the AVID card. To cut a long story short this proposal does not create the problems I was concerned about and is benign. So by all means respond and add your name to the list. Apologies for making this matter complex but there was a possibility that this would create problems for us. All clear now? Happy Christmas, Paul From: aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net [mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of Bob Ward Sent: Friday, 20 December 2013 7:05 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC Paul, What does he mean that Sports aviation pilots do not require an ASIC ? When I land my RV7A at any RPT serviced airport, I certainly require an ASIC. When Pam and Gerrit recently used several RPT serviced airports on the way to Burketown and return, I understand that they were required to produce their ASIC more than once? I am sure that this guy has it wrong. Regards Bob Ward From: Paul Mander Sent: Friday, December 20, 2013 2:14 PM To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' ; 'DDSC Chat' Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC Our CFI has sent a note to our club (BSC) membership recommending that no one should sign the petition to remove the ASIC requirement. Here is his advice: Be aware that sport aviation pilots do not have to hold an ASIC card. Raising this issue with no research to show that the Government is likely to listen may only put our exemption at risk. So far as I know there is no intention on the behalf of the Government to relax security restrictions - far from it as I understand it. AOPA does not support the air sport organisations or self-administration. I do not understand why AOPA is acting on behalf of sport Aviation with out our knowledge. I RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT GET INVOLVED UNTIL WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON. If AOPA wants our support they know very well who to come to. Anyone know about this? I’ll be taking it up with him, of course, and will advise accordingly. From: aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net [mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of Peter (PCS3) Sent: Thursday, 19 December 2013 7:36 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.; 'DDSC Chat' Subject: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC Ladies Gents, The following is a link to a petition to abolish the ASIC card: http://tinyurl.com/removeASIC I contend that ASIC Cards are an unnecessary impost, particularly in the light that a
Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC
On 21 Dec 2013, at 9:49 am, Reg Moore rfmo...@senet.com.au wrote: Last time I renewed my ASIC through the RA(Aus) system it cost me $165. Our snake oil is 20% cheaper than other leading brands of reptile-based lubricant! - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC
On 20 Dec 2013, at 3:14 pm, Paul Mander p...@mander.net.au wrote: Here is his advice: Be aware that sport aviation pilots do not have to hold an ASIC card. Your CFI is wrong. The fact that barely any glider pilots possess ASICs and most people look the other way (top notch adherence to procedures by literally everyone involved, there!) doesn't remove the strict requirement to hold one whilst operating out of security controlled airports. (such as, for example, YBTH, if I'm reading my ERSA correctly) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] 98 fuel in motorgliders
On 19 Dec 2013, at 6:07 pm, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: At 03:49 PM 19/12/2013, you wrote: On Dec 19, 2013, at 4:42 PM, Laurie Hoffman lozhoff...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi Glenn, How does one go about claiming the road tax component? The same way one goes about dobbing yourself in for paying the carbon tax, I’d expect :-) Yes, you are meant to pay it on aviation fuel. I wonder if there has ever been a recorded case of that with mogas in aircraft? :-) I'll go out on a limb and suggest that it's exactly the same number of recorded cases of people claiming back the road tax component. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] 98 fuel in motorgliders
On Dec 19, 2013, at 4:42 PM, Laurie Hoffman lozhoff...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi Glenn, How does one go about claiming the road tax component? The same way one goes about dobbing yourself in for paying the carbon tax, I’d expect :-) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] CASR part 61 delayed?
This'll be pretty terrible if it's true. http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/part-61-reforms-postponed The CASR Pt 61 is the bit with the GPL, RPL and ICAO-equivalent licenses. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] M18 Dromader
On Oct 25, 2013, at 3:41 AM, John Parncutt jparn...@bigpond.net.au wrote: I think you will find that this particular aircraft was the turbine (prop jet) version, definitely not suitable for glider towing! This particular aircraft only had one wing, which makes it even less suitable. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Initial issue medicals driver's licence
On Oct 14, 2013, at 2:37 PM, Texler, Michael michael.tex...@health.wa.gov.au wrote: Great! You can medically self declare here in WA for your initial, no requirement to see a doctor! You medically self-declare before every flight. That class-2 medical certificate you received 23 months and 29 days ago only certifies your medical fitness at the specific time and date of the examination; everything after that is based on your personal judgement call. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Medicals
This is increasingly academic given that CASA have already decided to remove the requirement for class-2 medicals for private flight, with limitations. http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD:1001:pc=PC_100908 The scheme should be live at the end of this year, and applies to all holders of SPL, PPL and CPL licenses. You'll need to ask your doctor to assess your medical fitness to the standard documented in the Austroads publication Assessing Fitness to Drive for Commercial and Private Vehicle Drivers, with CASA amendments. Any GP can do it, and most of them should be across the requirements. Send the doctor's certification to CASA and you're done, no mess, no fuss. When flying under the drivers license medical standard, CASA imposes these restrictions: - Private operations only - Single engine - 1500kg MTOW - No more than one passenger - No aerobatics - Not above 10,000' AMSL - Day VFR. That encompasses the vast bulk of gliding activities. I'd strongly suggest that in the event that GFA's requirements for visiting overseas pilots are more stringent than CASA's, it'll be incumbent on GFA to change them accordingly. - mark On Oct 14, 2013, at 2:06 PM, Texler, Michael michael.tex...@health.wa.gov.au wrote: Thanks Mike and Carol, That’s Gold, OK, bring it on. Implement it and see what happens! Unless I have completely mis read it again, an initially medical issuance would still be required (i.e. Driver’s licence initial issue requires a medical and this is used in lieu)? Then attendance and sign of for medical self awareness courses and using self report for restricted operations (i.e. single engine, one pax max etc..)? Michael ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Initial issue medicals driver's licence
On Oct 14, 2013, at 3:30 PM, Chris Runeckles cmruneck...@gmail.com wrote: You can only medically self declare for solo pilot status, anything else (A.E.I. upwards) need to be medically certified : You're missing my point. If you fly immediately after receiving your medical certification, you're medically certified. If you fly an hour later, or a day later, or a year later (pick the interval of your choice), you're self-certifying that your medical certification is still valid, and that nothing about your health situation has changed to call the doctor's examination results into doubt. Your DAME/GP doesn't give you a piece of paper that says you're healthy for the next two years. They give you a piece of paper that says you were medically fit at the exact date and time at which they signed it. Any interpretation above and beyond that is a conceit and a fabrication. Doctors aren't time travelers, right? - mark [ class 2 medical certificate holder, with a realistic attitude about what it means… ] ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] bohli compass for sale
On 26/09/2013, at 10:23 PM, Michael Scutter michael_scut...@yahoo.com.au wrote: I haven't had it calibrated for a while. Does any one know of an accredited service centre in Australia, or must I return it to the manufacturer? I'd suggest returning it to the manufacturer. No return address required. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] bohli compass for sale
On 25 Sep 2013, at 8:26 pm, Grietje Wansink grietje.wans...@gmail.com wrote: compass is only mandatory in motor gliders as far as I know. I don't think that's right. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012C00683 is the GFA exemption. Its only reference to instruments concerns turn and bank indicators in CAR 1998 reg 207. Minimum equipment for private VFR aircraft is in CAO 20.18 appendix 1. A compass is on the list, with no exemption for gliders. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012C00103 Maybe I've missed something because I haven't wanted to spend all night researching CAOs for an aus-soaring post, but I don't think so: compasses are on hue he minimum equipment list for gliders, regardless of whether they have engines. (Notwithstanding Mike's accurate observations as to the uselessness of compasses, they are actually required to be installed) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] bohli compass for sale
On 26/09/2013, at 12:47 AM, Grietje Wansink grietje.wans...@gmail.com wrote: It is under EASA. Understood. But anyone operating a VH registered glider is under CASA rules. (which technically makes your compass more valuable, I suppose :-) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] bohli compass for sale
On Sep 26, 2013, at 11:41 AM, DMcD slutsw...@gmail.com wrote: Mine is very accurate and easily passes any form 2 or pre-flight inspection. The casing has been filled with a water-clear casting resin so that the card is rigid and clearly visible at all times and does not suffer the yellowing and drying out of fluid or the problems associated with hemisphere and magnetic anomaly such as exist across Storm Bay in Tasmania. And best, it is 100% accurate when you are flying in the right direction. CASA sent out a news bulletin yesterday which drew attention to an AD about compasses. http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/airworth/awb/34/005.pdf I hope you filled it with resin in a vacuum chamber. :-) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Gerhard Waibel visit to Australia
On 03/09/2013, at 8:10 AM, Future Aviation ec...@internode.on.net wrote: I understand Gerhard will drive from Melbourne to Adelaide via the 'Great Ocean Road'. Unfortunately that's all I know! Much more scenic to fly it, y'know :-) - markinline: 100_5653.jpeg___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Gerhard Waibel visit to Australia
On Sep 3, 2013, at 9:15 AM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: From the RV-6 ? Yep. :) Boxing day last year. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Contact lenses, laser surgery etc
On Aug 19, 2013, at 3:56 PM, Derek Ruddock drudd...@iinet.net.au wrote: I don’t know if they can now make soft lenses that can correct other issues such as astigmatism, They can. Ask your optometrist for Toric lenses (it's what I use) I wouldn’t recommend any contact lens when swimming: (don’t ask…) They're held in by surface tension, so yeah, wearing them swimming would be a bit silly :) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Contact lenses, laser surgery etc
I've been a contact lens user for about 8 years now. Compared to glasses, they're amazing. No comparison. Glasses have distortion around the edges which affect your peripheral vision, micro scratches which put fringes and starbursts around bright lights at night, and an annoying ability to become almost impossible to see through in rain or snow. Contacts have none of those problems, I get crystal clear vision all the time. I'll never go back to wearing glasses regularly. On Aug 19, 2013, at 11:20 AM, Niall Doherty t...@tpg.com.au wrote: Eye hygiene is important though - no swimming or showering in them, clean hands before touching; and use really good lens cleaner - peroxide based is best. I developed an allergy to at least one of the ingredients in the cleaning solution I was using after a few years. I'm told it's reasonably common. Manifests itself as red, itchy, dry eyes, occasionally requiring removal of the lens and rehydration of the eye. I switched brands/formulations and haven't had a problem since. I'm using astigmatic correction lenses. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Pretty clever....
On 23/07/2013, at 16:14, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Or even the controls may be hooked up backwards. Phew. Good thing we have independent checks for rigging! g,d,r - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Insurance Recommendations
On Jul 15, 2013, at 12:48 PM, Brian Du Rieu bdur...@yahoo.com.au wrote: I used Aviation Insurance Australia (Allianz) last year and saved over $1000 on the LS10's policy. OAMPs wanted to charge a hefty admin fee in addition to a policy fee rise. Hi Brian. Can you estimate the before- and after- cost of the premium? Interested in a point of comparison when I go down this path with the RV-6. (private email if you don't want to talk about it on the list?) Thanks, - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Wind Turbines cause turbulence risk?
On 12/07/2013, at 7:00 PM, Bob Ward wendo...@westnet.com.au wrote: Is there a moderator on this site? If so, is he asleep ? It isn't a site, it's a mailing list. It's always been unmoderated, relying on the maturity and civility of its adult participants. Sometimes that's been, perhaps, a tough ask. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Correct usage of out of office assistant
On Jul 1, 2013, at 1:13 PM, Derek Ruddock drudd...@iinet.net.au wrote: Make sure you don't use reply all. A well behaved auto responder should not send email in response to any mail which says: Precedence: bulk or Precedence: list in the headers, regardless of whether you use reply all. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Petition to remove ASIC card
On Jun 13, 2013, at 11:51 AM, John Hudson hud...@senet.com.au wrote: The screening at airports can continue to occur - ASIC Card only demonstrates the holder is Clean when the police check occurs. I agree, it does nothing for security. It does nothing for security, but it means less people are airside, which means the security guards and cops can have cushier jobs. Every stupid idea serves some purpose to somebody, eh? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Just for JR
On 21/05/2013, at 11:46 PM, JR jma99...@bigpond.net.au wrote: thanks Chris its nice to know that the horse still has a place in flying. It isn't obvious from the photo, but that glider is flying at VNE, and is just moments away from overflying and picking up all the slack on the tow rope the rider is frantically tying on to the harness attached to the soon-to-be-launched horse. Experimental aviation is a beautiful thing, isn't it? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Tom Claffey's repeat posts are getting ridiculous...
On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 09:07:11AM +0800, Texler, Michael wrote: Can Tom Claffey work out why the list is getting repeat postings please? They all have unique message IDs in the first Received: header, so I reckon Tom's mail client is sending them more than once. Stuck in an Outgoing folder, perhaps? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Hangarage near Sydney
On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 12:28:21AM -0700, tom claffey wrote: Good Luck! I would suggest Wedderburn. Bankstown and Camden are ridiculous. I now have a mental image of Bankstown and Camden being represented visually by a guy in a clown suit. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Hangarage near Sydney
Not strictly gliding related, but certainly aviation related: I'm about to move to Sydney. I'll be bringing an RV-6 with me, and I'll have to find a hangar spot for it. It's a 20'6 span taildragger -- doesn't take up much space, can share a shed with another aircraft. Currently nestles under the wings of a Cessna and a Decathlon at Parafield. I don't much mind where it's kept, as long as it's a non-corrosive environment and it isn't too hard to get fuel. If anyone has any contacts, I'm all ears, my email address is up the top. Thanks, - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Spam:*******, Re: Glider Pilots License
On 31/03/2013, at 6:10 PM, Ron Sanders resand...@gmail.com wrote: Guys i have had a look on CASA site regards part 61 and i can not find the draft of it to read.Any idea where i find the part so that i can read it?? It's all linked from here. http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:PWA::pc=PARTS061 - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Spam:*******, Re: Glider Pilots License
On 31/03/2013, at 10:08 PM, Ron Sanders resand...@gmail.com wrote: Guys, well I have read the proposed part 61 and I now understand why I did engineering at uni instead of law! I wish I had also read the index as the gliding stuff is at the very back. Well, it still does not tell me how to get a Glider pilots licence, It's a flight crew license like any other. Fill in a form, demonstrate compliance with the requirements, and get happy. At the CASA seminar last week at Gawler it was suggested that providing a copy of your GPC will be sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the requirements. it seems that I can not get an Glider or Self Launching Sailplane endorsement on my ATPL or PPL for that matter. Yeah you can. They aren't going to issue you with two ICAO licenses. If you already have a PPL then you'll get a glider class endorsement on it. I still have to have a annual flight check from a Gliding Instructor and also it seems that my six monthly checks in the 737 or A380 for that matter do not count for anything other than for that class of aircraft and I still have to have a bi annual flight check if I wish to fly aeroplanes of another class. Yes. Just like the way that you'll need to have a biannual check in balloons if you want to fly them under your balloon PPL, or in rotorcraft if you want to fly them under your helicopter PPL. Surely that isn't controversial? May be in the eventual implementation of this new reg things might get clearer but I hold no hope for being able to operate my self launch two seater the way I would like to and the way it was designed to be operated, Ie if I was towing the thing back to WA and wanted to stick it together at Caiguna and launch and soar the Australian bight cliffs with my wife or whever I can not. Your CASA-issued glider license will be utterly useless in Australia. It'll entitle you to ferry your self-launch two seater in stages from Germany to PNG, but as soon as you cross into Australian airspace it'll count for nothing, and you'll need to be a GFA member flying under the GFA system. Fortunately my glider is not insured and when I no longer need a professional licence I wont care what is written down anywhere. None of this has much to do with insurance. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Bird strike
On 31/03/2013, at 10:21 AM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Tell us more. Do we need to add Evasive Air Combat Manoeuvring to our skill set? I think the eagles are better at that bit than we are :) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] use of Unleaded Avgas-info from the UK
On 23/03/2013, at 11:44 AM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: So are we getting this stuff here? I'm happy as the BD-4 has a O-320A2B I'm a bit surprised that they aren't adding dye. (perhaps I shouldn't be, but I haven't been following the issue particularly closely. O-320D2A over here, not yet on the list) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Intermediate/short term goals
On 17/03/2013, at 11:08 AM, Mike Borgelt mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com wrote: Yes, staying out of sink is very important. Most of us do it poorly. It is extremely important when trying to center weak and broken thermals which is why I like a vario with a sink sound as it provides full information on the bad air as well as the good air while doing this. And on that note, I'd like to congratulate you for the B50, which, as installed in AUGC's H205 Club Libelle, had the most inspiringly depressing sink sound I've ever had the misfortune to hear. Excellent work, well done :-) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Bad air/Outlandings
On 17/03/2013, at 7:55 PM, gstev...@bigpond.com wrote: Of course, for relative newcomers to the sport, what Byars Holbrook, were really warning about, was avoiding running into unexpected obstacles, on the ground run. An argument for fully held off minimum energy landings and serviceable wheel brakes: Here are some possibilities that I have heard about, that might spoil your day. ASC had a photo of an Arrow suspended above a drainage ditch by its wingtips. The story I heard (apocryphal, but it sounds good around the bar) was that the pilot lined-up on the ditch thinking it was a vehicle track, and only realized it had depth when it was too late. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Apple - gliding
On 12/03/2013, at 11:57 AM, Dave Long Cath Lincoln cathd...@internode.on.net wrote: Hi Emilis, I suspect that the GPS unit in the iPad is not as sophisticated as those we are used to using in aviation. GPS is GPS. There hasn't been a huge amount of sophistication for most of the last 20 years. You're probably actually seeing the opposite. The GPS in most mobile devices, regardless of vendor, is deployed on the understanding that it'll spend quite a lot of its life indoors, where it'll be virtually impossible to get a satellite lock. So it's an assisted GPS. It uses last known GPS position, triangulation with visible 3G towers, and observations of which geolocated WiFi base stations are in range to provide additional fidelity, which is why it does a pretty good job of showing where you are even when you're inside a building, and can provide a location almost immediately instead of waiting for satellites like your panel mounted GPS does when you turn it on. Then the compromises set in: the device designers subsequently figure that since they can supplement poor GPS reception with other data, they didn't need to pay as much attention to the GPS antenna. So the device has one which is smaller, lighter, more physically constrained than a real GPS device. In built up areas you don't notice the compromise, because even though the GPS isn't necessarily receiving a great signal, there are plenty of other location cues and you still get accuracy to within a handful of metres. But travel out into the middle of nowhere, shield the already compromised GPS receiver under a few layers of FRP, and take yourself 50 km from their nearest 3G base station and 200km from the nearest WiFi and the antenna limitations become obvious. Different vendors will suffer to different extents, but none of them get off scott free in this respect. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Taxying after Landing (Thanks)
On 07/03/2013, at 3:00 AM, tom claffey to...@yahoo.com wrote: At the Mafikeng World Comps landing on bitumen runway with room off to each side on grass the local rule was if you stopped with any part of the glider over bitumen then you got a 50point penalty! At the last few comps I have been at there have been more incidents/close calls and worse from the land straight and dick around for ten minutes pilots than from those carefully taxiing off. I would also prefer to see NO cars on runways at ALL! To help those behind me I will continue my practice. Might have been better if the ops panel had this discussion before the promulgation of the new MOSP (Pt 2 8.1.6) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] glider register
On 02/03/2013, at 10:33 AM, tom claffey to...@yahoo.com wrote: Halebloodyulia!! It will be nice to join the rest of the world re licence. :) I'm kinda surprised this is news. It's been on CASA's website for ages. Background: http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:PWA::pc=PC_100935 The conditions are basically that the applicant for a CASA glider pilot certificate must hold a current pilot certificate issued by the GFA or another recognised authority, and must hold a CASA class 2 medical. The certificate will only be valid for as long as you maintain your GFA membership. I wonder how long it'll take before that last condition disappears. It's hard to see a lot of value in it. CASA regulations are supposed to be based on safety cases, and you don't suddenly cease to be a safe pilot as soon as your GFA membership lapses. (given that GFA can't issue ADs anymore, you probably don't even cease to be a safe pilot when your aircraft falls out of the GFA airworthiness system. I'm quite looking forward to seeing some GFA communication about the new limitations on their airworthiness authority) The times, they are a'changin'. Will be interesting to see how GFA changes with them. Regards, - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] AIRBUS has abandoned its plans to use lithium-ion batteries for its new A350 airplanes
On 25/02/2013, at 8:33 PM, Craig Vinall craig.vin...@bigpond.com wrote: Thought this may be of interest. I know that these batteries are becoming popular in gliders; what do others think? Is there a potential fire risk? Probably the wrong question to ask, given that you could just as easily inquire into whether there's a potential fire risk inherent in carrying around tanks of volatile hydrocarbons. More useful questions would be, Under what conditions can a fire start, and, Once it has started, what can you do about it? By my money, the worst parts about the event in NY weren't associated with the fact that the batteries caught fire; the worst bits were the fact that Boeing had assured the FAA that thermal runaway was impossible (it clearly wasn't) and the fact that it took fire crews, with all their training and specialized equipment, more than 40 minutes to extinguish it. Could have been worse -- could have been over the Pacific somewhere at the limits of ETOPS. ANA has grounded their 787s until at least May, so there'll be a lot of time to ponder those issues before they start flying again. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] 1944 US Army Air Forces training film: How to rig a P-47 Thunderbolt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embeddedv=V2D3k0sJ8HM#! Not sure, but I think I'd prefer rigging the Twin Astir. Maybe. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Alan Hudson's jet ASW20
I asked on the Waikerie mailing list but got no responses, so I thought I'd widen it out a bit here: Does anyone have any youtube etc video of Alan's ASW-20 at take-off? Extra bonus points if it includes the engine retract mechanism. I want to show it to a non-gliding person who's open-mouth agape in disbelief. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Glider engine fire
On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 12:07:24PM +1000, Mike Borgelt wrote: A small BCF extinguisher to flood the engine bay seems like a good idea. You need a tame LAME to sign for one though as the substance is restricted due to danger to the ozone layer. But that's the greenies for you. Better that a few people die in fires than have effective extinguishers. Isn't their an exemption for Halon for aircraft? - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Glider engine fire
On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 12:07:24PM +1000, Mike Borgelt wrote: A small BCF extinguisher to flood the engine bay seems like a good idea. Here we go: 5 lb Halon extinguisher for aircraft, US$523 plus shipping. Check for import documentation requirements on Halon before buying. You'd typically mount it so that the bottle is in the cockpit, and the bits that are on fire are at the other end of the aluminium tubing. Mount the pull cable somewhere obvious where it won't get yanked by accident. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Press at JoeyGlide
On 11/12/2012, at 9:10 AM, Tom Wilksch tom.wilk...@internode.on.net wrote: Apparently comps are about more than just controlling the steering wheel Who knew?? Don't believe everything you see on TV, Tom. (Tom got engaged over the weekend, everyone. Just sayin'.) - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] Nowra temp traces
Well, you learn something new every day. BoM has been supplying temp trace data for Nowra since 2008. I've been dutifully archiving it without even realizing it. Just noticed it while doing some manual integrity checking. So I hope anyone flying gliders in the Illawarra area will find that helpful. Looks like it's twice daily, at 01Z and 17Z, with slight variations. The most recent trace is always available here: http://slash.dotat.org/cgi-bin/atmos?loc=94750latest=1 - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Sky 1 Installation Update
On Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 06:59:03AM +0800, Michael Eales wrote: A drawback of cloud computing I guess. Wonder whats the app programing language is? Oxygene, C#, maybe Visual Basic ? Adobe Air. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
[Aus-soaring] CAAP 149-1(0) -- Aerotowing
CASA has just released CAAP 149-1(0), RAAO registered aircraft acceptable to CASA for the aerotowing of other aircraft. Part 6 includes a list of Recreational Aviation Administration Organization (RAAO) aircraft which CASA thinks are acceptable tugs. The document claims, This is the first CAAP to be written with specified aircraft types acceptable to CASA for aerotowing. For towing GFA aircraft, the list is: Jabiru J230-C and -D EuroFox 2K/3K Evektor SportStar Diamond HK 36 TC and R Schiebe SF-25C There's a process outlined for getting your favourite aircraft on the list if it isn't on it already. http://casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/download/caaps/ops/149-1.pdf - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
Re: [Aus-soaring] Sky 1 Installation Update
On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 09:38:06AM +0800, Texler, Michael wrote: I have have just installed something fantastic. It is called Sky(TM). It is applied to the entire outer surface of the canopy. Although it is solar powered it doesn't need batteries, or a link to a GPS unit or any extra holes drilled into your instrument panel. It's a fairly mature product, but like any ancient system it has exhibited some difficult to fix bugs and usability defects. By far the worst aspect of Sky(TM) is that its rendering of other aircraft defies basic user interface standards. Modern systems have benefited from quite a lot of psychological research which keeps harmless or trivial user interface elements unobtrusive and promotes important elements to the forefront of the user's attention, but Sky(tm) comes from an earlier generation of systems where that wasn't always the case. In particular, the most visually prominent Sky(TM) objects are the ones that are least harmful and easiest to avoid (security in the cloud!). The most visually unobtrusive objects are the ones which can cause irretrievable data loss if you accidentally interact with them, something that even the most well-trained experts occasionally have trouble with. If we were designing it today, we'd make other aircraft as prominent as clouds, and perhaps impose a modal Are you sure? dialog when you touch one, to make sure you're really intending to die in a crash before allowing it to happen. The architecture of Sky(TM) makes this usability deficiency very difficult to fix. In the same way that the UNIX community has greybeards who say that rm -rf / is easy to avoid if you don't accidentally type it (but seem, to a man, to have accidentally typed it themselves!), the Sky(TM) user community is full of curmudgeons who claim that you can overcome its usability deficiencies by adopting a See and Avoid strategy while simultaneously entertaining us with bar stories about near misses^H^H^H^H^H^Hhits, so perhaps part of the problem is architectural, and part of it is lack of interest in finding a fix. Meanwhile, newer users are working-around the deficiencies with toolkits layered on top of Sky(TM), just like we layer GNOME and KDE on top of UNIX to improve its usability. There's an active development community engaged in solving these problems with overlays such as FLARM, cheap ADSB-* equipment, and various PDA applications. Best of luck to them, I say. - mark ___ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
