Chasing Heinz McArthur North Carolina Soaring Association Feb 12, 2005

Agenda Silver Badge requirements My Silver Distance flight –Planning –Equipment –Weather –The flight –Cross country aero tow retrieve The paperwork (forms and documentation) Ball Airport Lessons learned

Silver Badge Requirements

Recording Requirements FOR EACH TASK: You need an Official Observer and a barograph or flight recorder. An Official Observer is: –A member of the SSA, –Holds at least an SSA B Badge, and –Has a working knowledge of the FAI Sporting Code as it pertains to Gliders. Release from tow at or below the maximum altitude permitted for the task... Notch the barograph with the loss of a couple hundred feet, or mark the release from tow with a tight turn when using a flight recorder.

Silver Distance Requirements Minimum 50km (31.1 sm) distance Release altitude <= 1% distance flown + elevation of finish point

Example: Harnett Cty to Raleigh East

Example: Harnett Cty to Ball Airport

Planning Weekday chosen to fly based on wx forecast Minimum crew 4000 ft required for x-c Land-out plan Flight plan –Straight out to landing –No declaration required –HRJ  Kennebec  5W5  Bagwell  9NC0 Aero tow retrieve from Raleigh East

Equipment L-33 Solo Peravia barograph w/seals 1 qt bottle water Cell phone Awards application form Charlotte sectional Garmin GPSMap 196 mounted on panel Casio E10 PDA w/Cambridge PocketNav (predecessor to GNII)

First Launch 1900 ft msl release

Date: 4/6/2004 Takeoff: 17:21 Landing: 19:51 Duration: 02:30 Low point: 2150ft High point: 4477ft

Ball Airport Airport ID: 79NC W/ N Elevation: 366 ft Unicom: Glider ops: Runway 18/36 Runway Length: 2459 Runway Width: 40 (Narrow!) Surface Type: Asphalt Notes: Runway slopes up from South to North; normal glider launches to the South (RW 18), landings to the North (RW 36)

X-C Aero Tow Techniques –Tow plane –Glider

Documentation Barogram – or – GNSS FR log file Barograph/GNSS FR calibration –1 year/2 year – or – within 1 month of flight Awards application form –Signed by OO, tow pilot, witnesses If turnpoints used: –Flight Declaration –Photos

Lessons Learned (or relearned) Minimum silver distance (50 km) impractical for straight flight Do you need 4000’ to head out? NO! Do you need cu’s to fly x-c? NO! Landing at new airfields Land out rope Photos Hydration PDA navigation/logging software Persistence (and preparation) pays off