Monthly Soaring Magazine Articles for 2024

January - First Flight Follies by Stephen Dee, SSF Trustee, CFIG, DPE

Looking back over the many years I've had the chance to start a soaring season, I well remember the goofy things I've observed (and probably done) during Clubs' first flight activity of the year. Be it January or June, it was usually apparent when someone was making their first flight in a while. Here are some things I've seen that should probably be avoided. Read the full article.

February - Renew your CFI with WINGS by Bill Palmer

Let's start off by saying that the Soaring Safety Foundation believes that the best way to renew your CFI is by attending a Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC). The SSF travels around the country providing them. Attending a FIRC keeps you up to date on the latest changes and you get to interact with other flight instructors. However, sometimes due to illness or other factors you just can't make it to a FIRC before your renewal date. Letting your CFI expire forces you into a checkride scenario. What can you do? Read the full article.

March - An Open and Shut Case by Tom Johnson

Your glider canopy. The part that keeps the wind out of your hair and streamlines the fuselage. An essential part of any modern sailplane. Aside from my soaring ego, the canopy on my Ventus is probably the most fragile piece of equipment on my sailplane. And like my ego, it requires TLC to keep it in good shape. Read the full article.

April - 2023 Soaring Accident Summary by Soaring Safety Foundation Trustees

For the twelve-month period ending October 31, 2023, five (5) gliders and six (6) motor-gliders were involved in eleven (11) separate accidents that met the reporting requirements of NTSB, 49 CFR 830. This represents a 60.7% decrease in the number of accidents reported during the previous 12 month reporting period. The five-year average for the FY19 - FY23 reporting period is 21.2 accidents per year, representing a 14.5% decrease in the average number of accidents from the previous five-year period. Read the full article.

May - Notes from the December 2023 OSTIV TSP Meeting by Richard Carlson - SSF Chairman

Last December the Training and Safety Panel (TSP) of the International Scientific and Technical Soaring Organization (OSTIV) held its annual meeting. Using a virtual format flight instructors and safety officers from a dozen countries in Europe, Scandinavia, and North America meet for 2 days to share the safety records and training programs those various countries use. Read the full article.

June - A Big Enough Blanket by Tom Johnson

At one time in my life, I worked for the power company "splitting atoms for peace" in the Chicago area. The regulators would tell us, the Quality Assurance staff, that our safety blanket could only cover 4 of the 6 plants we had making nuclear power. We would move the blanket to cover one area, but the area we left uncovered would almost immediately begin to present problems. Read the full article.

July - FAA Practical Test Standard Updates By Tony Condon

Effective May 31st, 2024 the FAA has made updates to all of their testing documents. This includes the Private, Commercial, and CFI Glider Practical Test Standards. There should be no significant changes that you need to implement in your training or expect on your upcoming practical tests. As always you should make sure to prepare for your test and train your students to the latest versions. Read the full article.

August - Stall Speed? by Bill Palmer

Stall and stall-spin accidents continue to be the most frequent cause of fatal glider accidents in all phases of flight. Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I) continues to be the leading cause for all general aviation accidents as well. Read the full article.

September - What are your stresses? by By Tom Johnson - SSF Trustee

In a Mechanical Engineering laboratory class, we had to put stress and strain gauges on various materials and shapes. We would then measure what happened when a load was placed on the shape and analyze what we measured. Read the full article.

October - Your Soaring Safety Foundation - Convention Experience by SSF Trustees and Advisors

October! Time for leaves to turn colors and cool days free from the oppressive summer heat and humidity. In 2024 it is also time for the SSA convention in Knoxville TN to bring the tribes together again. While most of us think the convention runs from Thursday - Saturday (Oct 24-26, 2024), the Soaring Safety Foundation (SSF) programs begin two days in advance. Read the full article.

November - Do You Take Safety Personally? by Tom Johnson

Back when I was young and naive, (as opposed to now as older and not as naive) we had a sentiment in our US Navy flight training that "passing would not be passing if it wasn't good enough." The idea being that the effort to get from 90% to 100% on tests was as much or more than the effort to get above the required 80% to pass the exam. Read the full article.

December - Keeping Up with the Jones (FAA's Changes) by Richard Carlson - SSF Chairman

In the summer of 2023 the FAA issued several Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NRPM) documents that impacted glider pilots and flight instructors. The Soaring Safety Foundation (SSF) led the SSA's government liaison team in responding to these notices. In October 2024 the FAA completed their comment review process and published the final rule changes in the Federal Register. Read the full article.