SAY AGAIN, IS IT 920 MSL OR AGL?
by Kurt Ristow

After a good day of soaring this Memorial Day, I paused a little bit to reflect on a subject that I consider to be extremely important. This is something I have brought up from time to time, but I'm afraid that I haven't seen much progress.

Everyone should have their altimeters set to field elevation before takeoff. I still see club aircraft set to "0". We need to be speaking the same language as every other pilot we share the sky with. When asked by radio what your location is, you should be responding with "2900 feet, 2 miles east of the airport" instead of "2000 feet, 2 miles east of the airport". The latter comment would lead most pilots to believe that you are flying your glider nearly at pattern altitude, and for many power pilots, that would mean you are directly in their flight path for a downwind leg for 18. This would cause the power pilot undue anxiety and further our reputation as "those dumb glider guys". Every other pilot up there is thinking in terms of M.S.L.. This kind of standardization is vital to keep everyone separated safely.

Another thing we all need to do better is use of the radios. I am definitely included here. When someone is asking "are there any gliders in the area?" we must respond with good information. There is no reason to remain silent. That pilot is asking for safety's sake, not because he does or doesn't like gliders. Whenever we are flying near Terry, (which most of us do most of the time), we should have the radio volume turned up enough so that it can be understood. I see it over and over, radio calls to club ships that are hardly ever responded to.

As the traffic continues to increase at Terry Airport, and we continue to put more gliders into the air around it, I am getting more and more concerned that the odds will catch up eventually. There is only so much airspace. It is not as infinite as it seems up there in the wild blue. Times have changed at Terry. It is no longer a little country airport. We were very spoiled in the past when there wasn't as much business there. We simply can not thermal on the downwind or wherever we want anymore if there is traffic around.

I write this only because I am concerned about your safety, the pilot of the other plane's safety, as well as his passengers, people and property on the ground, the reputation of CISS and the sport of soaring. Most of all, I want everyone who flies here to have a fun and memorable flight that makes you grin all the way back home!

Please join in welcoming our newest member Larry Kennedy, who joined CISS May fifth and took his first flight with Bob Gillan.

Larry is a Private Pilot with an SEL rating. He has not flown in years but is looking forward to the opportunity of soaring. After landing, Larry's comment was "This sure is different!"

Larry professes Pharmacy at Butler University. He and his wife Jo Ellen and two daughters live in Carmel, IN. Jeff Melin will be Larry's Mentor.

We all would like to help others who are trying to earn their wings. However, we have been carrying that concept a little too far lately and end up doing more harm than good.

When overhearing student/instructor conversations, and we all do, please keep your comments about how to handle certain situations to yourself. This severely disrupts the point an instructor is trying to make to a student. Regardless if you are "just trying to help," it sends too many wrong messages.

Don't provide a comment unless asked, and, most importantly, always refer the student back to the instructor for confirmation.

Let's let the instructors do the instructing. That is, of course, unless you desire to become an instructor yourself.

AWRIGHT!!!

Congratulations to Zach Joice who soloed in N303BA during the May Soaring Camp. Way to go Zach!
Professionally, Zach flies an EMB-145 (Built by Embraer in Brazil), a 50 pax regional jet that is based in CLT North Carolina. He has been a Captain on it for about 2.5 years, and has worked for Mesa Airlines (flying as USairways Express) for the last six years.