FIRST FLIGHT
by Soaring Safety Foundation Trustees Carlson, Compton, Hammond, Smith & Wander

Breaking News! - In December 2005 the Soaring Safety Foundation published the following article. With the 2006 Soaring Season about to start for most US glider pilots, the SSF would like to acknowledge all of those who have followed up on their commitment. The SSF would also like to open up this program to the entire SSA membership. Send a picture of you and your flight instructor and tell us when you completed your First-Flight! The SSF will post this picture on their web site. Email this picture to webmaster@soaringsafety.org.

We sure hope you’re with us, come 2007!  Because we’ve lost too many of you in accidents already this year and too many of you in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 .....  The Soaring Safety Foundation announces the 2006 Accident Reduction Program (ARP06).  It will consist of:

·        A special new ARP06 article every month, beginning in January, in SOARING magazine

o       reprinting of that in SSAs e-newsletter

o       insertion of it on the SSF web page

o       insertion of it on the SSA web page

·        two new First Flight Safety posters which will be distributed by SSF at no cost to every SSA Chapter and club and FBO for which we have addresses

·        asking everyone to make their first flight of 2006 with a CFI-G

·        asking every FBO, Chapter and club to require the users of their equipment/site to make their first flight of 2006 with a CFI-G

Will you commit yourself to this?  As of the time of this writing,

• the SSAChairman of the Board, Dean Carswell - Accomplished Apr 2, 06 Instructor: Paul Searles; has.
• The five SSA Trustees:
  • Gene Hammond
  • Burt Compton
  • Bob Wander
  • Chairman Rich Carlson - Accomplished Jan 1, 06 Instructor: Gary Reuter
  • and Bernald Smith have.
• SSA Directors:
  • Cindy Brickner
  • Chip Garner
  • Rick Sheppe - Accomplished Mar 15, 06 Instructor: Kuihiko Izuni
  • Jim Skydell - Accomplished Jan 28, 06 Instructor: Cindy Brickner
  • Karol Hines
  • Stephen Northcraft
  • Doug Easton
  • Diane Black-Nixon
  • Jim Short
  • Jim Kellet
  • Frank Reid
  • Al Tyler - Accomplished Feb 28, 06 Instructor: Larry Travers
  • Charlie Minner
  • Tim Welles
  • David Newell - Accomplished April 29, 06 Instructor: Larry Pennington
  have embraced the program.
• SSA ExecDir Dennis Wright has, and says he will get all of his staff who are pilots to do so, too.
• Tom Knauff has
• Dick Johnson has
• Insurance guru Pat Costello has
• Marfa Soaring, Caracole Soaring, and Bermuda High will.
  

SSA Member List

The following table is a SSA members who have completed their First Flight. To update this list send your information to the SSF webmaster stating the date, pilot, instructor, and optionally a picture. This page will be updated on a continuous basis. By clicking on a letter in the "alphabet menubar" below you will go directly to the group of members whose last name starts with that letter.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

- A - - B - - C - - D - - E - - F - - G -

- H - - I - - J - - K - Bill Keller w/Instructor: R.P. Boerner - Accomplished Apr 1, 06 - L - - M -

- P - - R - - S - - T - - U - - Y - - Z -

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It means each CFI-G that accepts this plan will need to make First Flight with another CFI-G.

We think your club/Chapter/FBO will implement this in the way they know best.  We think you and the CFI-G you fly with will work to make it as productive a learning experience as you can.  That means asking for an evaluation of your flight in a manner prescribed by you and the CFI-G in concert.  You may decide you want emphasis on all aspects of safety that should apply to every flight, from the preflight considerations, to getting the ship to the runway, to the takeoff, to not only the end of the landing roll, but putting the ship away.

Hopefully, it will mean emphasis on judgment, stall recognition, and pattern and approach flying.  It means so many more things than what we take space here to delineate.

Will any of this make a difference and how will we know?  We would like folks all year to think about every flight without allowing complacency to overcome them.  E.g., do you review before every takeoff what you will do if there’s a rope break at 50, at 200 at 500, even though you’ve inspected the line to assure that its safe to use?  Do you review before every landing what you will do to assure safely reaching your landing spot, in case there’s a wind shear, or unexpected traffic?  Do you conduct a lookout as if your life depended upon it? Because it does!  We think we'll know at the end of the year when we count up the accidents and compare them with previous years.

What about MGs and towplanes?  All of the above applies, as it pertains to such operation.

Will you commit to First Flight?