The Soaring Safety Foundation (SSF) is the Training and Safety arm of the Soaring Society of America (SSA). Our mission is to provide instructors and pilots with the tools needed to teach/learn both the stick & rudder skills and the Aeronautical Decision Making skills needed to safely fly a glider. We also provide information and analysis of incident and accident trends in order to develop better training tools.

Flight Training Videos

These videos are introductory in nature and are geared to learning to soar, or a new soaring skill.

Flight Safety Videos

These videos are safety oriented and appropriate for glider pilots of any skill level.

Visit the Soaring Safety Foundation's Youtube Channelyoutube
The SSA's YouTube Video Playlist

April 4, 2015

The SSF is pleased to announce a revised web site with a new look and feel. As with any update, it will take a few days to find and fix any links that don't work. If you find a broken link or notice that something you use to use is no longer available then contact the SSF webmaster at webmaster@soaringsafety.org. Simply note the page you are looking at and the link that no longer works, or the typo that you think needs to be corrected. New features and content will be uploaded as the site stablizes. Thank you for your willingness to support the SSF. The SSF Trustees Rich, Ron, Burt, Steve, and Tom.

The Soaring Incident Database is now available to help pilots, safety officers, clubs, and commercial operators develop new programs that can help prevent incidents from becoming major accidents. See more incidents by searching the database or register a new incident.

Region Pilot Certificate Pilot Injuries Passenger Injuries Type of Flight Launch Method Type of Aircraft
Midwest CFI None None Local Aero Tow Blanik L-13
Incident Activity Damage to Aircraft Damage to Canopy Incident Date Incident Time Weather SSA Member
Preflight None 0000-00-00 1200-1400 Clear Yes
Incident Description Blanik L-13 was returned from maintenance. On the return to service flight, the pilot did a positive control check after a thorough preflight. Upon takeoff, the glider was observed swerving back and forth behind the towplane but took off. The serving continued during tow. The pilot released in the pattern and made a rather rough landing on the runway. So what happened? The rudder cables were hooked up backwards. On the positive control check, be didn't verify the controls were moving in the right direction. We now verify controls are moving the correct direction during positive control checks. The other problem with this flight was the pilot continued the takeoff even though he was having control problems. We stress to all pilots, if it doesn't feel right deal with it on the ground and not in the air.
Other Comments included in narrative

 

 

 

 


Find out more about the Soaring Safety Foundation: (trustees, mission, By-Laws, or Contact us by email).