Towlines
The Newsletter of the
www.abqsoaring.org
From the
President By
Bob Hudson
I am told that spring is around the corner, what
corner I am not sure. This is the time
that we should all be dragging our airplanes out and cleaning them up. When I say cleaning them up, I mean washing,
waxing, vacuuming, lubricating, etc. A
clean plane is a happy plane and you can quote me on that. For those who don’t own a plane, there are
seven (don’t forget the two tow planes) planes in our hangar that all need the
TLC that is often reserved for the private ships. But why should we stop with the aircraft, how
about the hangars? There is a ton of “crap” in our hangars that needs to be
relocated to the dump. ‘Nuff said.
Good news: junior member Austin Heerman, has taken
another big step in his aviation career by obtaining his private pilots
license. Next stop…? Keep up the good
work,
Speaking of juniors, we need to get some new junior
members. If you know of any young,
wannabe, aviators that need that little push over the edge … start pushing. A great way to get these guys started is to
convince them they need an orientation ride with Rick (Sundance). That gets
their appetite wet and then direct them down the ramp to the ASC.
The annual Safety Down Day is scheduled for the 18th
of March at the airport. Remember this
is a required meeting, so mark your calendars.
Full details can be found in the next article, including the proposed
changes to our Club operating procedures proposed by our three-man mishap
investigation team. We will vote on them on the 18th.
Another presentation will be made by Brian Morrison
on Part 91 and Part 61 of the
Clay Phillips will fill us in on required aircraft
documentation and Mark Mocho will educate us on the eds system, important
because we are going to convert all our performance aircraft to EDS systems.
I am still trying to line up a couple of other
speakers, such as Larry Richardson to give us parachute refresher training, so
just be advised we are going to have a super Safety Down Day.
Proposed bylaw
changes By Bob Hudson
Besides celebrating our success and enjoying the
“gathering of eagles”, our second annual Safety Down Day (March 18th)
will have an opportunity to make some much needed changes to our Club’s by-laws
and procedures. As you know your Board
charted three dedicated members to take a hard look at how “we do business.” These intrepid airmen were Harry Saxton, Bob
Knight and Ash Collins. The suggested
changes are complete and ready for a vote of our membership. Per the
requirements of our club we have to post these suggested changes in our
newsletter prior to the actual vote. It is important that each and every one of
you read the suggested changes and be prepared to vote. If you can not attend
the “Down Day” but want to comment, you can e-mail, or post, me your thoughts,
additions or changes. So here they are:
1. Suggested Mission Statement change to include:
a. The
b. All
Procedural Changes: (Wording to be added.)
2. CFIs must set an example
of Safety, Professionalism and Competence.
To that end each ASC
3. a. Flight Reviews and FAA
Practical Tests in ASC aircraft may be given only to ASC members by ASC CFIs.
b. In cases in which an ASC
member is flying with a non-member, the ASC member shall be the declared
4. When two ASC members are
flying a club aircraft, the
5. A new requirement will be
added:
Each aircraft to have an
approved Daily Inspection and Pre-Flight Checklist
Each member pilot or student
pilot to be required to conduct appropriate inspections, and in the conduct
thereof, to:
Ascertain the airworthiness of the aircraft
Determine if any damage exists that should
Red-Line the aircraft, or
Be noted in a damage report
(In the case of Daily
Inspection) provide a signed copy of the Daily Inspection form to the ASC Duty
Officer.
Note any exceptions and/or
damage, in writing, to the aircraft, prior
to flight to: Duty Officer, and Aircraft
discrepancy Log
Any damage discovered will
be attributed to the last
6. Responsibility for damage
is assigned to the individual pilot causing the damage; such responsibility to
be established by:
Acknowledgement on the part
of the pilot causing the damage (the desired outcome), and/or,
The operating and damage
logs, (as referenced above)
7. ASC Web will carry a current report on aircraft status. However the final determination is up to the
pilot taking command of the aircraft.
8. All damage to aircraft
will be repaired with all deliberate speed by an authorized agent or individual
(the Club Maintenance Officer, or his designee, will oversee this procedure);
the fact that the aircraft may be considered "airworthy" should not be considered a reason for delay of
repair.
9. Each member to read and
sign a statement comprehensively and unreservedly subscribing to the Club's
By-Laws and Operating Procedures.
10. Any amendments to the
ASC By-Laws and/or Operating Procedures are to be published and promulgated to
each Club member with each member signing/acknowledging receipt of the change.
11. A statement of insurance
coverage is to be added to the operating procedures and will cover key points,
including:
Limits, Exclusions,
Deductibles, Named insured, in the case of DPEs (e.g. Rick Kohler), and
Reference to Operating Procedures that apply to the above points
12. (Words need to be added)
It is the responsibility of each ASC member to verify the flight time and tow
altitude on the day of flight to assure accuracy of Club Ops Sheets. Otherwise,
the data in the Op Sheets shall stand.
In the case of
"blank" spaces, the member shall be charged for: 1.5 Hours, aircraft
time, and a 3.0K tow.
13. Only ASC Board members and
appointed officers will issue statements in regard to policy, billing and other
official matters, and NOT by other members.
Study these proposed changes
and be prepared to discuss and vote on them during the annual Safety Down Day.
Apologies to Renny Rozzoni
In
the last issue of Towlines Renny wrote a most interesting piece on outlanding
kit. Due to an editing error his byline
was dropped from the piece. This was
corrected on the on-line version of the newletter. Sorry!
Stalls and spins By
Billy Hill
Were it possible to resurrect from the dead those
pilots who have died as a result of a stall/spin accident and were we to put
them in the cockpit of what ever aircraft they last flew and ask them to then demonstrate a stall and
recovery there from, they most likely could do it flawlessly. This then begs the question, why did they not
recognize and recover from the stall/spin that killed them in the first place?
I’m of the opinion that stall recognition and
recovery is taught in a very sterile environment. By that I mean the stall series are taught as
a separate maneuver which is divorced from the rest of the job of flying an
aircraft be it a glider or something with an engine.
Once a pilot is proficient in recognizing the on-set
of a stall series or perhaps a spin, they then need to be taught the
circumstances under which a stall or spin might be encountered. That is to say we instructors need to
introduce into the curriculum distractions while having the student perform
stall recognition and recovery. An
example of just such a distraction is pulling up into a gaggle of gliders and
hauling back on the stick while aggressively rolling into a bank in order to
center the thermal and out core the rest of the gaggle. You might ask, who in their right mind would
do such a thing, but I’ve seen it happen and only cite this as an example, but
not one that should be used as a teaching tool.
A number of years ago, Paul Bickle is alleged to have done just that. It is said that he stalled his glider and ended
up spinning down thru the middle of a thermal core filled with other
sailplanes. Recognizing that recovery while in the middle of the gaggle was not
prudent, he continued to spin the glider until he was below everyone else
before recovering. Here we have a
shining example of keeping one’s cool after up-screwing! It’s probably safe to say that inattention on
the part of the pilot is what gets him into this sort of situation. Although most pilots can recite a litany of
pre-stall indications ending with the buffet, there are an equal number of
pilots who think that the buffet is the first indication of a stall. In reality, this is how stall recognition is
treated by most pilots. That is, the
first time they are aware of the stall is when the nose abruptly pitches
down. More often than not, this is in
the traffic pattern when the work load is the highest and there is the greatest
opportunity for distractions. It is very
easy to fixate on what might appear to be a problem. For example; another aircraft has cut you off
in the pattern and seems to be completely oblivious of almost everything
else! Whadda ya gonna do? The prudent pilot knows that there are a
number of options available including such things as landing on the taxiway, or
perhaps landing short on the runway, or even landing beside the runway. The bottom line is the prudent pilot does not
allow him self to become distracted by circumstances over which he has no
control. He continues with his approach,
carefully flies his aircraft, does not allow himself to become distracted and
most importantly, makes all turns in a coordinated fashion. He never stops flying his aircraft.
Coordination: Is yet another very important issue. The proficient pilot is never satisfied with
anything less than a centered yaw string.
This may sound obsessive, but if you continue to raise that particular
bar, if you are able to tell when you are flying in an uncoordinated fashion
even without looking at the string, then coordinated flight will be come second
nature if not a conditioned reflex. As an aside, did you ever notice that Al
Santilli has no yaw string on his Libelle?
When you are becoming task saturated, it helps if you can fly with a
centered string without thinking about it.
One of the most difficult things to do in a sailplane is to fly it in a
straight line with the string centered.
Mother Nature’s idea of a clever little joke is that she has her
thermals gently push sailplanes away from their center. If the wise cross country pilot is flying
with the intent of proceeding to a point in space ahead of the sailplane and he
is keeping the string centered, Mother Nature will not fool him as he will be
aware of being gently nudged away from a source of lift.
So, as we prepare for the upcoming soaring season,
make a part of your proficiency flights flying with the string centered so that
it becomes a conditioned reflex. As for
me, I’m going to keep my yaw string on the off chance that some portion of my
anatomy might be numb…..if you get my drift.
See you at the airport.
Obituary:
Galt Bowen By Bob Woods
Club members who recall the days when we
flew on