JUST SOME OF THE NEWS ITEMS PRINTED IN THE MAY ISSUE OF GLIDING INTERNATIONAL

Next update July 2008

DEREK PIGGOTT, MBE is undoubtedly the world's best known gliding instructor and his abilities have been recognised by his peers at the International Gliding Commission's 2008 meeting in Rome, by awarding him gliding highest award, the Lilienthal Medal. Derek started his aviation career in the R.A.F. in 1942 and flew sorties in Burma and India. Back in the UK, he was posted as a Staff Instructor to the RAF's Central Flying after being awarded the A1 Instructor Rating. He left the airforce in 1953 to join the Lasham Gliding Society as Chief Flying Instructor, a role he kept until his retirement in 1991. Prolific writer, almost every English speaking glider pilot has one or more of his books in their library. He is still flying (at the age of 86). A very worthy recipient of the Lilienthal medal.

CAMBRIDGE - DOWN BUT NOT OUT - If you are a follower of the U.S.A. web chat pages you will undoubtedly be aware of the criticism being heaped on to Cambridge Aero Instruments. It's a sad story really - a great company - great developers - great products, but time and the opposition appear to be passing them by. It seems that they are down to one only employee, Jeff Bennett who must be struggling as the only technical support man on the scene. Regrettably, Gary Cammerer, the man with the greatest knowledge on all Cambridge products is no longer employed by the company. There is however some light at the end of this tunnel if you listen to a multitude of views and rumours circulating. We are told that negotiations are under way for a possible company change of ownership. The likely buyers could involve at least four former employees including the former company owner, Dave Ellis. Dave who created all the original products, did not release his subsequent product enhancements - features he was developing at the time of the first sale. They are up his sleeve - so to speak. So Cambridge users, stand by, there could be a change in the wind.

QUOTE FOR THE MONTH "Just fly your life. Do what you can, have self-accountability, have self-awareness and go out there and dream big. Have a passion, pursue excellence in it." Major Nicole Malachowski, encouraging attendees at the recent Women In Aviation conference

DO YOU KNOW ? June 2008 will be 65th anniversary for two pilots who 65 years ago piloted a Troop/Cargo glider from Montreal, Canada, to Preswick, Scotland, as an experiment designed to see if it was feasible to aero-tOW troop/Cargo gliders to Europe as an alternative to shipping by sea. The Silent Wings gliders were manufactured in the United States and were based in the United Kingdom in readiness for the launch against Germany on D-Day. It was an arduous flight involving 6-7 hours ( per leg) of hand flying on tow over the North Atlantic. It was determined to be too difficult and the flight was not repeated. The whereabouts of the two pilots, Messrs R G Seyes or F M Gobeil is unknown but we hope they are alive to enjoy this anniversary.

JAIL FOR DIABETIC PILOT - A lesson for diabetic pilots who fail to make their medical condition known. Pilot, Ronald Crews, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for lying about a medical condition that led in 2002 to his diabetic seizure while at the controls of a Cape Air Cessna 402. Crews, then 50 years of age, had flown with Cape Air for four years and had not disclosed his insulin dependency. He will serve two years probation following completion of his jail term. The February 8, 2002, flight with four passengers aboard was spared potential disaster by the actions of one passenger -- a pilot trainee. Melanie Oswalt, (24) with only 48 hours flying experience, took the controls and managed a gear-up landing at a non-controlled airport. The airport was closed at the time of the landing and located well beyond the flight's intended point of arrival. None of those aboard were injured. The prosecutor said that Crews had for his entire career hidden the condition from the Civil Aviation authority. Crews had once previously removed himself from a flight he was scheduled to fly and later took a medical leave of absence. He had been cleared to fly again just six weeks before the accident flight. Crews plead guilty to four counts of making false statements to the authorities.

THIS IS NEW! A group of pilots in Redlands, California, are taking advantage of pilots affection for a good beer, opening a new brewery next to the local airport. Most pilots know the old saying that the minimum is "eight hours bottle to throttle" - but it does not seem to have been taken into consideration. Nevertheless, those who have tasted the brew are giving it the thumbs up. The brewery is named Hangar 24, in honour of a favourite hang-out of the owner, Ben Cook, who started brewing beer at home and sharing it with airport friends after the day's flying was done. We'll tell you where to buy it once we have tasted the product.

WINGLETS - A DOLLAR EACH WAY - We have written about winglets and Airbus versus Boeing in our two past issues achieving no definitive answer on the subject. Boeing recently released their future winglet policy for the 787 Dreamliner as seen here in the displayed drawing. To complicate the issue further, on February 28, a sub contractor to Boeing, GKN Aerospace announced that they had just delivered the first "blended" winglet for the Boeing 737-300/500 series. These winglets are 7' long, whilst the company announced that they are also manufacturing 300 sets of 11' long winglets for the Boeing 767-300ER. These winglets are being produced at GKN Aerospace facility on the Isle of Wight, UK. GKN Aerospace are declaring that blended winglets are transforming the performance of aircraft today - significantly reducing drag, and cutting aircraft's fuel consumption by as much as five percent . Blended winglets can be 'retrofitted' to the huge number of aircraft already flying. It is estimated that by 2010 blended winglets will have saved the world's airlines over 2 billion gallons of fuel, with 737 300/500 operators, achieving savings of up to 100,000 gallons of fuel per aircraft per year. GKN Aerospace is regarded as the world's leading authority on winglets with the world's best research facility. Maybe they have something to offer to sailplane manufacturers.

UPDATED! "TRANSPONDERS IN SAILPLANES" This publication has had a major update. This guide, originally published in Soaring in 2002 and updated in 2004, is now expanded another 10 pages to include information on Mode S transponders, ADS-B equipment, portable transponder detectors like the Zaon MRX, and the "glider TCAS" (FLARM). Other new sections are "Myth-information about transponders" and "Why doesn't the Soaring Society of America.. . . . . ." Even if you have a transponder already, you might enjoy reading those two sections. The updated Guide is available from the Soaring Safety Foundation website at: http://tinyurl.com/y739x4

THIS FROM A U.K. SAILPLANE ENGINEER: I inspected three sailplanes last week that had been stored in their trailers and left outside for the winter. Two of the ships showed no moisture damage and one showed rusted components in the cockpit. Guess which two had solar vents?

PLEDGES FOR COOPERATION TO SAFEGUARD WORLDWIDE GENERAL AVIATION ACCESS A summit meeting was held on February 5, 2008, in Frederick, Maryland, USA, involving Pierre Portmann, president of the FŽdŽration AŽronautique Internationale (FAI), and Phil Boyer, president of the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA), to discuss a range of high-level issues affecting general aviation worldwide. They agreed upon the need for cooperation to safeguard general aviation access to airspace and aerodromes, and to reduce the costs of flying. Dr. Ruedi Gerber, IAOPA Europe senior vice president, was also present for discussion of specific issues affecting European general aviation issues, including airspace functionality, aerodrome preservation and equipment requirements as they apply to the IAOPA core member and to the full range of airsports activities governed by FAI. The two organizations resolved to collaborate regularly on major issues affecting world general aviation and, where possible, to harmonize policy positions. IAOPA represents the interests of affiliates in 66 countries worldwide, comprising more than 470,000 general aviation and aerial work pilots and aircraft operators. The Council was formed in 1962 to provide a voice for general aviation in world aviation forums. Comment: The seriousness of diminishing airspace for general (sporting) aviation cannot be overstated. It has just been announced that in 2007 the world's airlines increased the number of flights to more than 29.5 million worldwide - the highest number ever recorded. Will we still be just talking about this in 2008 like we were in 1998 and 1988? Airspace administrators have absolutely no interest at all in general aviation and are winning the battle for the airlines by default - this - in every country without exception.