Fw: Soaring Society of America E-News
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- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:27:17 -0800 (PST)
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From: Mechelle Radcliff <mradcliff@xxxxxxx>
To: soarhhsc@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tue, November 16, 2010 5:39:54 PM
Subject: Soaring Society of America E-News
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November 2010
Calling All Comedians!!
We know there is nothing pilots like better (other than flying) than eating,
drinking and telling funny stories. If you fit into the category of a story
teller, we've got something exciting to share with you. Friday night, January
29th in Philadelphia at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel (215-238-6638 for
reservations) we will be featuring "The Comedians of Soaring." We'd love for
you
to join us and share a tall tale or two. If you would be interested in being
one
of the featured comedians for the evening, please contact Denise Layton,
dlayton@xxxxxxx and she would be happy to place you on the line up. If you
aren't interested in being one of our comedians, we hope you'll make plans to
attend the Friday night event - the participants need someone to laugh at their
stories. So, please sign up for the SSA Conference, and get your tickets now
for
our evening events.
We're going to have something new this year. Aside from the many interesting
speakers scheduled, Bob Lacovara and his group are putting together more to
interest you. There will be round table discussions on Contest Flying, Glider
Maintenance, Club Operations, PA Ridge Flying, Instruction/Training, Winch
Operations, Club Management and Flight Safety. What better way to find out more
information on a subject than sitting with an experienced person simply
discussing it. No prepared speeches, just an opportunity to sit and share with
others on one of these topics.
We're pleased to announce OSTIV will once again have a presence at our
Conference, with some fine speakers lined up. OSTIV is also sponsoring our
Thursday night event - Dinner and The Development and Flights of the LightHawk.
Danny Howell will discuss the status and performance of the LightHawk sailplane
and then a panel discussion will follow. Cash bar opens at 6:00, followed by
dinner at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday night will be our premier event - the annual SSA Awards Banquet. The
place we can gather once a year to recognize the many contributors to our
sport.
In anticipation of our big 100 years of soaring celebration, Kevin
Kochersberger
will be our featured speaker. Kevin started flying at the age of 15, in a
plans-built Rogallo type hang glider off the dunes at jockey's Ridge, a few
miles from Kitty Hawk. He has been an active glider pilot since 1983 and
currently holds commercial and CFI glider as well as ASEL ratings which he uses
frequently at Blue Ridge Soaring Society in New Castle, VA. Kochersberger has
accumulated over 2000 hours in aircraft, and flew the Wright 1903 Flyer
reproduction aircraft for the Centennial of Flight Celebration in 2003 at Kitty
Hawk. Today he is the Director of the Unmanned Systems Lab at Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg, VA, developing the next generation of fixed and rotary wing
unmanned
aircraft.
You won't want to miss anything, so make plans now to attend. Come in Monday
and
participate in the CFIG Revalidation Clinic Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, enjoy
the many speakers and events we have planned for Thursday-Saturday. You can
call
headquarters to sign up (575-392-1177) or you can register on-line.
We hope to see you there!
Manufacturer Responds about Blanik L-13 Groundings
As most SSA members and users of the ubiquitous L-13 Blanik know, this glider
has been the subject of a number of manufacturer's Mandatory Service Bulletins
and Airworthiness Directives issued by the European Aviation Safety
Administration EASA), and more recently by the FAA. Currently most of the
world's fleet of L-13's is grounded.
At the request of SSA and numbers of other organizations and operators around
the world, the holder of the current Type Certificate (Aircraft Industries in
Kunovice, Czech Republic) has provided the following statement:
Kunovice September 30, 2010
OPINION Aircraft Industries, a.s. on the means to restore airworthiness of
GLIDERS L 13 and L 13 A
With regard to the accident glider L 13 sn 175117 (in Austria 12 June 2010),
where the initial findings first led investigators to suspect the fatigue
cracks
associated with fracture of the left wing flange where it joins the hinge leaf;
and also identified a significant strain due to high overall acrobatic flight
frequency of about 8% of the last 400 hours of operation (with the previous
roughly 2000 hours of operation not having any records at all) - to the
attention of operators and certification agencies concerned with the problem of
fatigue life of the glider and criteria for its certification.
Investigation of the accident is still not officially closed.
Aircraft Industries, as manufacturer, stresses that the service life of L 13
gliders and other related types is based on the concept of safe life, which was
established based on fatigue tests of the glider and fatigue tests of samples.
Tests consisted of applied cyclic loading derived from the published average
operating conditions in the glider's operational documentation. In the event
that actual operating conditions of the glider deviate towards greater burden
on
the glider (the frequency of improper acrobatics, etc.), safe life of the
glider
drops significantly below the standard service life.
Following the issue of Mandatory Bulletin L13/109a and EASA AD 2010-0119-E, it
was revealed that many gliders L 13 have missing or incomplete records of
actual
operating conditions. This situation precludes the ability to assess what
proportion of fatigue life has been exhausted and what part remains available,
which is contrary to the concept of safe fatigue life.
In this situation, taking into account the finding that visual inspection of
the
critical binding site required by Bulletin L13/109a is unable to ensure
reliable
identification of all cracks, Aircraft Industries a.s. considers that the
appropriate way to restore the airworthiness of gliders L 13 and L 13A is the
development, certification and deployment of NDT methods that can reliably
identify any incipient cracks in critical areas, together with the
determination
of periodic tests and analysis of the speed of crack propagation at critical
locations to determine residual structural strength in critical areas. Aircraft
Industries a.s., in cooperation with the Research and Testing Institute in
Prague is preparing a system of checks using the "eddy current" technique.
Given
that the critical point is hidden below the two layers of sheet metal and flat
head rivets, the development of the means of processing the data is more time
consuming.
Aircraft Industries a.s. expects to restore the airworthiness of gliders with
proper operational records, by implementation of approved NDT methods with
satisfactory results. Furthermore, we assume that the method will be verified
and approved in early 2011.
Gliders with non-existent or incomplete operational records will probably be
subject to periodic checks. We expect that this will be approved at the end of
the first quarter of 2011.
The proposed way to restore the airworthiness of gliders is subject to approval
by EASA."
SSA is concerned about the reliability of Blanik L-13's since nearly 200 are
owned and operated in the United States. Meanwhile, the manufacturer, as stated
above, expects to determine appropriate inspections and methods of declaring
them airworthy again. The FAA's Small Airplane Directorate in Kansas City, MO
has investigated the matter in depth and has published a multi-page
informational bulletin which, due to its length, is published in the News
Section of the SSA's website www.SSA.org. This document is unusual in its
detail
and clarity and SSA thanks the Small Airplane Directorate, and in particular
Greg Davison the author, for their understanding and help.
The FAA Airworthiness Directives, also published on SSA's web page, allow for
proposed Alternative Methods of Compliance (AMOC's) and provide a method for
their submission. Although these AMOC's likely also need to be approved by
Aircraft Industries, they may provide an accelerated method of getting Blaniks
in the air again. SSA urges individuals and companies with the appropriate
engineering expertise to contact the FAA and propose methods of compliance
through them.
SSA will continue to publish information as it arrives on the SSA web site in
order to provide the quickest dissemination.
Jim Short,
SSA Aircraft Certification Subcommittee
October 22, 2010
The Pre-World is coming to the USA in Uvalde Texas in 2011.
During the dates of August 4-14 the Pre-World contest will be in Uvalde, Texas.
Many International pilots are making plans to attend, and would like to RENT
gliders for the contest. If you have a glider to offer for rent, please send
your name, and type of glider to Linda Murray, Contest Manager
(Linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx). We are making a list of available gliders.
We will provide the list to the International pilots and they will contact you
for the specific arrangements.
The world is coming to Texas! The 32nd World Gliding Championships will be held
July 28-August 19, 2012 .
2011 OLC Convention Albuquerque, NM
OLC Convention USA will be held in Albuquerque, NM on February 5, 2011. Watch
this space for more information in the January 2011 E-News.
BLAST FROM THE PAST!! CAN YOU IDENTIFY ME?
The first person to correctly identify the person in this photo will receive
one
of SSA's hot new T-shirts. Send your guess to Mechelle at mradcliff@xxxxxxxx
Last Month's Contest Winner
Congratulations to Mike Carris of Albuquerque, NM for correctly guessing last
month's photo of Paul MacCready.
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