At 11:39 PM 9/03/04 +1100, you wrote:
>
>>Mike Borgelt wrote: I'd prefer "we will expedite a full report so others
>>may learn" to
>>"there will be a full report in the fullness of time."
>
>While I agree that we can all learn from a detailed understanding of what
>happened in a gliding accident, particularly a tragic one, there's another
>reason why I value early details.
>
>Lots of my friends and colleagues know I'm a glider pilot. For many of
>them, perhaps the majority, I'm the only pilot they know. When something
>like this happens they ask me about it. On the one hand I feel a certain
>pressure to defend the sport. On the other hand I feel that my friends and
>colleagues expect me to be "in the know".
>
>Whenever there's a gliding related incident in the media I rely on this
>list, and RAS to get some facts that maybe aren't in the news reports (or
>are misreported) while it's still fresh in people's minds. It's not much
>use (in the particular situation I'm thinking of in the photocopier room at
>work or at the pub) to say "I'll get back to you in a few months when we've
>got the whole story."
>
>I'm proud of the sense achievement I feel when I reflect that I AM a glider
>pilot, but it's a heavy responsibility when so many friends and colleagues
>see it as a wacky, dangerous thing to do, about which they know next to
>nothing. "What if there's no wind?", "Aren't you scared with no engine?",
>"What about that guy who got killed?"
>
>I've been off work today (coincidentally to attend a funeral of a friend
>from my other [dangerous?] life as a jazz musician) but the questions will
>start around nine o'clock tomorrow morning at my day gig.
Well, gliding is certainly dangerous as is all of aviation but with proper
training and operational philosophies the risks can be managed as has been
shown by most of the rest of aviation.
It just requires the will to do it from those who place themselves in the
position of "controlling" the sport.
Safety is everyone's responsibility, not the province of a few GFA ops
people and instructors. Unfortunately while the latter philosophy prevails
(as it does in Australia) we will go on needlessly breaking gliders and
killing and injuring people.
Keeping all pilots "in the loop" on accident investigations and producing
timely preliminary reports is a good first step.
At present the "keep the information for a select few" policy has resulted
in many gliding club members being unable to appreciate the hazards of
their day to day operations due at least partly to this enforced ignorance.
At one club of my acquaintance a couple of power instructors I know (who
used to to both fly gliders years ago) looked at the operation and came
away horrified. One of them actually rang me to ask if this was normal.
Unfortunately the answer is yes.
So if you want to change this you will have to convince the GFA grand
poohbahs to stop telling each other what a great job they are doing and do
something useful with the several hundred thousand dollars a year they
collect.
If you are a new student why don't you ask the next instructor you fly with
how many hours he or she has over how many years and how many gliders he or
she has broken? I guarantee some of you will get a nasty surprise. I'd
suggest you choose an instructor with at least 500 accident free hours.
Read all the books you can. Piggott and Reichmann are a good start. Ask
your instructor if he or she has read them.
If you are on your club's management committee it might be a good idea to
take control of your instructors and weed out the unsuitable ones. The
students should not have to do it for you.
Don't then have enough instructors to maintain a training operation?
Consider not being one. I had an interesting conversation a month ago with
a CASA gentleman who was quite surprised to learn that the GFA required all
clubs to be training operations. His question was why? Interestingly he is
the sponsor for the writing of part 103(sport aviation operations).
Mike
Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments
phone Int'l + 61 746 355784
fax Int'l + 61 746 358796
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Int'l + 61 429 355784
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