February – March 2006
The UK thermal season seems to start earlier every year, so it’s already time for British readers to start brushing up your soaring skills. Whatever you want to learn, your instructor is the key, and Debb Evans has some gathered some personal tips in the February-March S&G to help you make the most of this invaluable training aid.
But before you can soar you have to launch. In this issue, Chris Ellis describes the greenest and most energetic way to get airborne while student Dan Goodman, who tried bungying for the first time on a club expedition recently, reports what the experience is like. If you launch on the winch, on the other hand, you’ll be interested in the recent incident that prompted Don Puttock to devote someserious thought to the first few seconds of the winch launch. His salutary tale backs up just some of the key points raised by the BGA Safety Initiative in the December-January S&G.
If you’ve a fondness for T-21s, try Gary Binnie’s article about how the only T-21 on the RAFGSA fleet has found a unique niche as a learning experience for students and for their instructors, too – in sunny Cyprus (image Pete Brown). You might also want to pause to admire Jochen Ewald’s photographs from the 33rd International Vintage GC Rally in Eggersdorf, Germany, where he recorded some magnificent old aircraft for posterity. Still on the theme of travel, Dennis Maddocks describes an eventful aerothon towing a K-21 around Wales – complete with tug breakdown, lots of rain, and a proposal of marriage. Further afield, Simon MacKintosh outlines the soaring opportunities in Western Canada – a place, he says, where flying is best practised when sledging conditions aren’t optimal.
Also in this issue Ben Dorrington of Clevelands GC talks to Debb Evans about how he made the transition from power flying, Les Beale tells how he became perhaps the only Rosbif in Aquitaine to hold a French Glider Pilot’s Licence, and Michael Fogarty describes a wooden aircraft repair course he took. Finally, we print just a few of our favourite images by the late Neil Stuart Lawson ofwww.whiteplanes.com, as a tribute to his immense contribution both to S&G and to aviation photography in general.
The start of a new year is traditionally a time for looking forwards as well as backwards, and David Roberts’ final column as Chairman of the British Gliding Association does just that. As he prepares to stand down at the end of his six-year term of office, he assesses the achievements of a packed and in many ways unpredictable six years, and looks ahead to the challenges facing gliding in Europe. Read all about it in the February-March S&G.
Helen Evans
Editor, Sailplane & Gliding
On task, on track
In his final S&G column as the Chairman of the British Gliding Association, David Roberts reflects on the events of the past six years – and on what lies ahead for the BGA
A place in the sun
Gary Binnie, visiting Cyprus to run an adventurous training course, discovered that the only T-21 on the RAFGSA fleet has its niche
Time for lateral thinking
A recent incident has prompted Don Puttock to devote some serious thought to the first few seconds of the winch launch
... in their soaring machines
Jochen Ewald took his camera along to the 33rd International Vintage GC Rally in Eggersdorf, Germany, where he recorded some magnificent aircraft – and their pilots – for posterity
Make the most of your instructor
The thermal soaring season seems to start earlier every year in the UK, so it’s time to brush up your flying skills. Whatever you want to learn your instructor is the key. Debb Evans has some tips for making the most of this invaluable training aid
Another tour for R22
Dennis Maddocks describes an eventful aerothon – complete with tug breakdown, lots of rain, and a proposal of marriage
Prairies and mountains
Simon MacKintosh outlines the soaring opportunities in a country where flying is best practised when sledging conditions aren’t optimal
A convert from power
Ben Dorrington of Clevelands GC talks to Debb Evans about how he made the transition from power flying – and why he glides
This unique perspective
Here are just a few of our favourite images by the late Neil Stuart Lawson, printed in tribute to his contribution to S&G and to aviation photography in general
When things come unstuck
Group Captain ‘Doddy’ Mead tells the tale of an aerotow that went very wrong
Ecstatic elastic
Chris Ellis takes a look at the greenest and most energetic way to launch a glider while student Dan Goodman tried bungying for the first time on a club expedition last year
Mary scrapes by
For the first time in seven years Mary Meagher visited Talgarth, where she enjoyed a good view of the scenery (and the sheep)
In fine fettle?
Paul Harvey casts a frivolous glance at a pastime that many glider pilots absolutely adore. No, no, not flying – fettling
Licensing the French way
Les Beale tells how he became perhaps the only Rosbif in Aquitaine to hold a French Glider Pilot’s Licence
Going with the grain
Michael Fogarty describes a wooden aircraft repair course he took to move from ‘knowing how it’s done’ to ‘having done it properly’ to school standards
A sobering experience
Despite the pressure of a busy launchpoint, our anonymous author decided to refuse a launch – and escaped a deadly trap he had unwittingly laid
Also in this issue:
British Gliding Association news; BGA Communications News; your letters; BGA Development News; Digital Gliding Gallery; club news; BGA Badges; incident and accident summaries
Tailfeathers: Plat examines the disappearing art of task-setting
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