Airworthiness

PREPARING FOR AN ELECTRIC FUTURE

Uys Jonker demonstrating the electric self launch system. Several new electric self-launching sailplanes are expected to arrive in Australia in the coming months, in addition to the handful already in the country. To meet the future maintenance requirements, Jonker Sailplanes…

Weight and Balance for Sailplanes

After considerable investment in time and effort, both within Gliding Australia and CASA, I am pleased to announce that Gliding Australia has been delegated authority to administer weight and balance for sailplanes. This means that we can recommence weight and balance training…

IN FLIGHT BATTERY FAILURE

Battery after removal from aircraft. In August 2022 I was flying my self-launching glider. I had decided to do a long power-on climb to about 6,000ft AGL to test the engine performance in a style of flight different to my normal usage. The engine started normally, the climb was…

THE RISKS OF NEW OR DIFFERENT

By Anthony smithChair Airworthiness department One of the major challenges of working in the Airworthiness Department is keeping up with new tools and techniques as they are introduced. They need to be learned, assessed to see if training courses need to be updated or new…

Training and Airworthiness Webinars

Anthony Smith has been adding to his Airwortihiness Webinars with several new recordings online. He has covered subjects including undercarriage incidents, current health of the AW system flutter, flight envelope and propellor departure. They are essential viewing for any pilot…

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The continuation of wet weather across large areas of Australia has caused a number of airworthiness challenges. Sailplanes are being stored in hangars and trailers without being flown for extensive periods of time. These conditions have brought forward a number of reports of…

Rings and Things - TOST Rings

Over the last few years, there have been several reports of uncommanded release events during aerotow with sailplanes fitted with the TOST E22 nose release. This has resulted in the GFA Airworthiness Department issuing Airworthiness Alert 2022-1.The TOST E22 nose release is a…

SHE’LL BE RIGHT MATE!

Too much force applied, and not performed in accordance with the manual. By Phil Dodd She’ll be right, mate! Just get a bigger hammer, that will make it fit. It’s never been a problem before. Don’t worry, it will be okay.These are words of complacency. The online Cambridge…

AIRWORTHINESS AND AGING FIBREGLASS AIRCRAFT

All aircraft begin to deteriorate as soon as it is manufactured. Generally the rate of deterioration is very slow at first, but the resulting damage is cumulative and the deterioration accelerates with age. The term aging aircraft is usually applied to aircraft as they near or…

CG Position For Least Tailplane Drag

This article was developed during the rewrite of the Weight and Balance Manual when the airworthiness team felt a short section on the CG position for optimal performance needed to be included. Anthony SmithChair Airworthiness Department As a result, I did a technical analysis…

Minimum Equipment Serviceability

Every sailplane has a Minimum Equipment List (MEL) that the design is certified with. This equipment is listed on the Type Certificate Data Sheet (TCDS). The equipment on the list is dependent on which standard the aircraft was designed to and the requirements of the country it…

Airworthiness - The Benefits of Being Well Connected

It is well known that people who are well connected in society end up being successful in life. Something similar can be said for connections in aircraft. Those with good connections between their structural elements and well connected controls are going to be more successful in…

Is Pilot Insecurity a Problem at Your Club?

Is Pilot Insecurity a Problem at Your Club? It is not uncommon for people to feel insecure during unpredictable events or crisis such as COVID-19. But a pilot or passenger feeling insecure in the cockpit is particularly dangerous – especially during unpredictable events like…

Airworthiness - Finding Your AD Schedule

Airworthiness - Finding Your AD Schedule A common complaint from members is that GFA no longer provides a set of Airworthiness Directives (ADs) with the Form 2 kits each year. A second complaint is that it is difficult to find the list of relevant ADs, also referred to as the AD…