A really cool paintjob, that's what we (the twens in our soaring club located close to EDDH) always wanted and after some years of fighting for it we convinced the "general assembly" that a bright red Ka 8 with grey stripes was the best way to attract attention everywhere.
Sadly, some high-flyer planted this lovely glider on the roof of a lonely house located in a 1 by 2 miles field, and tha was the end to all attempt to paint (wooden) planes differently.

Saveloys.
How many Slingsby T-67's or Katanas do you see in exciting colour schemes?
Not many more than the gliders, eh!
I haven't flown a glider for many years but thats where I started. I think its quite safe to say that glider pilots are better with stick and rudder than power pilots. This thread illustrates that rather well.

Gliders 1 -Power 0.

Incidentally, glider folks, what are the statistics on spin-in accidents? Theres a topic on turning back after engine failure after take-off in TECH LOG.

Mr moto

Unless I am missing some pages from this thread I didn't realise that the stick and rudder skills of glider/power pilots were being compared. No doubt glider pilots are more skilled in this part of flight, after all it's all you've got to think about.

Skills aside, I'm sure gliding is a great hobby. All I am getting at is that like children, gliders should be SEEN and not heard.

It is quite obvious Saveloys that the only point of your thread is to wind people up. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif
No wonder if you don't get more response to that. Good luck anyway because it is funny to witness your desperate attempts (and they really begin to sound desperate).

------------------
If you can't save the engine...save the airframe :D

Amex,

Hear, Hear - he's obviously a 100hr weekend wonder! oh, and for your info Saveloy the reason we dont paint plastic gliders, is because of vast temperature ranges the aircraft is likely to fly in:
Spain / Africa / USA + 42 degrees @ sea level, and in Scotland, minus - 50 degrees in wave @ 30,000 ft - a height that you will never get to, unless you either fly airliners / biz jets or have the skill to get a glider up that high!

And for the record 90% of the Farmers i have met on land-outs are extremely helpful, pleasant and are always interested in the sport- farmers would prefer gliders to land in their fields rather than Hot Air Balloons, due to the damage caused to crops with the basket dragging.

Its an airmanship issue, as is see and be seen.

Foxxy matey, make it to the bash and I ll get you a round (guinness appropraite ??). will be interested to know where u fly from so if you feel like it email me.

Thumbs up Mr Moto.

Interestingly enough,while on this topic, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ex BASI) has recomended that "The Gliding Federation of Australia adopt measures to make all aircraft engaged in gliding activities more conspicuous". This came about ,with other recomendations, following an investigation into a fatal accident in South Aus. which involved two gliders and a Pawnee tug.In this case a single seat glider collided with the tow line which a two seater had just released from(because he saw him coming)and both the tug and single seater went in from about 1500 ft.Sadly ,both the tuggie and the glider pilot were killed.A good paint job may well become a reality.

Saveloys, looks like you have a point old chap/chapess. Admittedly, gliding sites are easily avoided if a chart is studied carefully but the performance of modern gliders does tend to lead them well away from these marked sites.
I do find they are difficult to spot myself and have had several close calls but as someone mentioned above, chances are high that the "glider-man" saw you a long time before you saw him.
I've never been in a glider(550 hrs PPL A) but if anyone wants to kindly donate a trip I'm happy to fly to your base and see what it's all about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

y

Saveloys,

It is clear from your comments that you are suffering from some sort of maturity/airmanship deficit.

I speak as a glider pilot and a commercial pilot in training, I feel compelled to say that the lack of understanding you have exhibited is precisely why any half decent glider pilot will have attained a far superior level of piloting and lookout skill than you are ever likely to.

When we are all supposed to be very good at what we do, it is a great shame (and concern) that conscientious and safe pilots should have to work that much harder to compensate for the lack of skill and bad attitude on the part of people like you.

The right of *any* pilot to fly where he/she likes should be directly proportional to their level of skill, understanding, and airmanship REGARDLESS of what type they fly. Sadly for you going on that basis you probably ought to remain in the circuit until you understand a wider range of the topics that affect flight safety as a whole.

As many very well clued up people have mentioned here, you need to understand the bigger picture and assess where you are likely to encounter gliders and when. Then, actually seeing then is the easy bit because they really are not hard to see if you know were to look.

By the way, do you also go around swearing at cyclists when you drive your car?

Happy lookout! :)

Nish.

Nish,

He seems to have been very quiet in his replies since a couple of reasonably well versed drivers have posted comments with substance.

Best Regards

Foxxy