C/HHUS THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PERFORMING STANDARD CLASS SAILPLANE HAS NOW BEEN REDESIGNED TO INCLUDE THE VERY LATEST TECHNOLOGICAL AND AERODYNAMIC ADVANCEMENTS! FLAPS APPEARANCE Interconnected with ailerons for improved climb and the The new Cirrus 76 will look almost the same as its forefather­ ultimate in glide path control and landing safety. the nose fairing will be slightly sharper and of course, you'll be able to see the flap line on the wing surface. BALLAST Increased for improved performance under strong conditions. «<Meets CIVV rules for newly announced 15 meter open class. New longer tanks reaching all the way to the nose of the "0" The past competition record of the Standard Cirrus has been tube, eliminating another internal j oin which can lead to nothing short of remarkable. It has won more national, regional surface waviness. Outlet nearer root, fill port nearer spar. and local championships than space permits us to mention­ FUSELAGE more than any other sailplane. The forward fuselage has been changed to the aero­ These new improvements on the Cirrus 76 will keep this dynamically cleaner shape of the Janus, the highest perform­ Standard Class design at the top of the competition ladder for ance two-seater in the world. Tests have shown that this years to come. The previous design record of Klaus Holighaus new shape gives greatly improved laminar flow over the and the production reliability of the Schempp-Hirth factory forward portion of the fuselage, thereby improving performance assure you that the Cirrus 76 will be a winner in every respect! at all speeds. Deposits against delivery positions now being accepted BRAKES on a first come, first served basis. Of course, the new flaps replace the former dive brakes BUT the wheel brake system has been improved for greater landing safety. (Be careful, you now can scrape the nose!) WINGS New fillet design to improve slow speed performance. New system of wing construction to reduce "working" of the wing surface under the influence of heat and moisture. RAINco A much cleaner and smoother wing, like the Janus, for improved high speed performance. A SERVICE TO A SOARING SPORTI TAILPLANE SAILPLANES AND EQUIPMENT FOR New connection system for easier elevator assembly. TH E CRITICA L SOARING PILO T CONTROL SYSTEM 2555 E. UNIVE RS ITY DRIVE PO ST OF F IC E BO X New improved system in the cockpit and the wing. 20944 PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85036 TE L EP HONE (602) 273-1428 VOLUME 39 MAY 1975 NUMBER 5 18 THE JOURNAL OF THE SOARING SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Soaring Society of America is a division of the Nationa I Aero­ CONTEST RETROSPECTIVE 20 na utic Association (NAA), which George Moffat is the official U.S. representative of the Federation Aeronautique I n­ ternationa le (FAI, the world gov­ erning body for sport aviation). THE NIMBUS II The NAA, which represents the vs U.S. at FAI meetings, has dele­ THE AS-W 17 21 gated to the SSA supervision of George Moffat FA I-re lated soaring activities such as record attempts, competition sanctions, issuance of FA I Badges, and se lection of a U.S. team for EN AVANT! 25 the World Soaring Championships. SOARING is the Society's official Eddie Allen journa l. SSA Affi liate: The Nationa l Soaring Museum, RD #1, Elmira, New York 14903. 6,\,'" 0, DON'T THROW ( " ,.' �� CAUTION TO THE WINDS 36 SSA Officers: President, Lawrence 4l'"" �/�� Wood; Vice-President, Samuel A. ��<,..o ��� '"'' Karl Striedieck Francis; Vice-President, Robert L. Semans; Secretary, Richard Schre­ *�n_ der; Treasurer, T. E. Sharp; Exec­ utive Director, Lloyd Licher. Cover: Nimbus II near the eastern slope of the Sierra-photo by Don Down ie courtesy of the AOPA PI LOT. Staff: Doug Lamont, Editor; Lianna Lamont, Production Editor; Nikki Deal, Art Director; George Uveges, Contributing Photographer. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 2 TEACHING SOARING 40 Richard Sayer SSA IN ACTION 7 USING THE WEATHER 42 SSA business and editoria I office: THE C.I.V.V. REPORT 14 Charles V. Lindsay 3200 Airport Ave., Room 25, Santa William S. Ivans, Jr. Monica, Ca l if. Ma i ling address: F.A.I. Badges (U.S.) 44 P.O. Box 66071, Los Ange les, Ca lif. CALENDAR OF EVENTS 16 Judy Felts 90066. Don Monroe RECORDS APPROVED 44 David Aranda SAFETY CORNER 38 Total paid circulation for the Will Hayes CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 47 April 1975 issue was 16,400. Material published in SOARING Magazine is contributed by individuals for the reading pleasure of soaring enthusiasts. Accuracy of the material is the responsibility of the contributor. Neither the Society nor its journal assume responsibility for the cor­ rectness of material or the opinions of the contributor. Monetary payment is made only for the photograph that is used on the front cover ($30 b&w, $40 color). Anyone is in· vited to contribute articles, reports, and photos concerning soaring activities. How­ ever, any material that is to be returned must be accompanied by a stamped self­ addressed return envelope. Manuscripts ac­ cepted for publication are subject to what­ ever deletions, additions, or revisions are necessary to adapt the material to the Winning-Gear, Pants, and The Earliest Standard Class Definition? space requirements and quality standards of the magazine. Reproduction of any of the Hands Down Dear Sir: enclosed material, unless specifically ex­ Newspaper reports recently disclosed cluded, is encouraged. All reprints must the discovery of partial skeletons of the credit the Soaring Society of America. SOARING Magazine is the publication of world's largest flyjng creature, a 15.5- the Soaring Society of America, Inc., edi­ meter span pterosaur. An abstract of the torial and business office: Airport Ave., 3200 report by Douglas A. Lawson in Science, Room 25, Santa Monica, Calif. 90405 (mail­ vol. 187, pp. 947-948, March 14, 1975, ing address: P.O. Box Los Angeles, 66071, states: "Three partial skeletons of a large Calif. 90066). Telephone (213) 390-4449. SOARING is published monthly. Second-class pterosaur have been found in the latest postage paid at Santa Monica, California, cretaceous nonmarine rock of West Texas. and at additional mailing offices. Subscrip­ tion to individuals in the United States This flying reptile had thin, elongate, per­ available only as a part of SSA membership. haps toothless jaws and a long neck simi­ Membership is open to anyone interested in lar to the Pterodaustro and Pterodactylus. the art, the science, or the sport of motor­ With an estimated wingspan of 15.5 less flight. Annual dues: Membership, $20; Family Member (Member status, less sub­ Dear Sir: meters, it was undoubtedly the largest scription, for any person in same family and In Jack Olson's painting "Columbia flying creature presently known." household of a voting member), $7; Asso­ Basin Country" (on the September sec­ ciate, $12; Student Member (Must be en­ rolled full time in an academic school dur­ tion of the 1975 SSA Calendar ), just ing normal school year, give name of where can that Libelle be headed in that school, and be aged or under), 22 $10; terrain? A close scrutiny reveals that one Business Member, $45; Industrial Member, of two things has occurred : a revolution­ $65; and Sponsoring Member, $65. Life Member fee, $250 (may be four $62.50 con­ ary off-field landing procedure has been secutive quarterly payments). Subscription devised or Five Fracture is in a race with price, $10 in U.S. and $11 foreign (subscrip­ the steer to its right to see which can tions are only available to anyone outside the U.S. and the price includes postage; in completely disintegrate in the briefest the U.S. only libraries and institutions may elapsed time. Notwithstanding the fact subscribe). SOARING Magazine is printed by that it is not especially biodegradable, Parker & Son, Inc., 6500 Flotilla St., Los am I still wrong in concluding that Five Angeles, California 90022. (Please note, however, that changes of address should be Fracture is on the very verge of winning Upon examination of the report it turns sent to the SSA box number listed above.) that race-gear, pants, and hands-down? out that the wingspan was an estimate STEPHEN J. OEHMEN based on the size of some preserved (but Chattanooga, Tennessee incomplete ) wing bones. I am inclined to * The painting is based on a real event. think that Lawson exaggerated the wing­ The pilot, Joe Robertson, and his Libelle span. My own extrapolation of his data are real. The coulee-laced country of shows the Texas pterosaur had a true span TELEPHONE NEWS SERVICE eastern Washington is genuine. I must of 15 meters (possibly in anticipation of Attention is called to the after-hours recorded telephone news service at SSA confess that my picture is a reconstruction the CIVV rules ). One can be sure that the headquarters. The SSA staff records the based on a verbal account. My excuse for beast had disposable water ballast and latest developments in the soaring world on a weekly baSis (usually on Friday not being at Joe's landing site is simple: retractable gear. The flapspoiler configu­ evening) when anything newsworthy comes Dttring our regionals I was following Joe ration was in dispute then as now. The to our attention; less often in slower times. Ouring national and world champ­ when my altitude got down to about 6000 hinge line of the flaps was not at the ionships, we strive to record the latest ft. AGL, so I landed. But Joe is different bottom wing surface, and the flaps and results on a daily basiS. After a tape has been on for one week (from Friday evening and doesn't quit plowing on until his ailerons were interconnected.