New 2024 Edition of the F.A.A. Glider Flying Handbook

[Paul Remde]

The F.A.A. has released a new 2024 edition of the Glider Flying Handbook.

You can download a free PDF version, or order a printed copy here:

https://www.cumulus-soaring.com/store/glider-flying-handbook

I also have the old 2013 edition on sale here:

https://www.cumulus-soaring.com/store/glider-flying-handbook-old-2013

Many other free downloads are available on my website here:

https://www.cumulus-soaring.com/store/books/free-downloads

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde

Cumulus Soaring, Inc.

[Moshe Braner]

It's about time!  The 2013 edition was so full of glaring errors that I wanted to organize a contest in the club, who can find the most errors.  I checked the the 2024 edition now and my "favorite" error has been fixed - the one that brought to mind the saying by a famous physicist: "it's not even wrong".  I wonder how many other errors have been fixed.  They should have paid Tom Knauff RIP to use his version of the handbook, way back.

[Lawrence Spinetta]

what was your favorite error, moshe?   would love to hear 

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[Bill Tisdale]

It will be interesting to see how many errors were cleared from the old version, and how many new ones they added.

Bill

[Moshe Braner]

In the middle of page 5-6 in the 2013 edition:

"The stall speed of a glider increases with the square root of the increase in weight. ... For example, a 540-pound glider has a stalling speed of 40 knots. The pilot adds 300 pounds of water ballast making the new weight 840 pounds. The new stalling speed is approximately 57 knots (square root of √ 300 + 40 = 57)."

Like I said, "not even wrong"!  And this was not corrected in the 2015 errata sheet.

I could teach a whole semester on the subject of "ratios", what they mean, their use and misuse, dimensional and non-dimensional, etc.  I think a lot of mayhem originates from the common use of "percentage increase" instead of a ratio.  I cringe when I hear that something "increased by 300%" when they should have simply said "quadrupled".  Or try asking your favorite victim: "I paid $23.45 total after 7%  sales tax, what was the price before tax", and see them flummoxed.

[krasw]

I have not read the book, but being somewhat interested in weather, I instantly noticed this:

The wind profile on the right is begging explanation, like what kind of structure in atmosphere allows convection, while stopping vertical mixing of momentum (wind)?

Interestingly, this publication make no attempt to explain or show sounding, or vertical structure of atmosphere.

[John Noss]

Page 7-33:  "Pilots normally use the recommended approach speed in the GFM/POH, but they may use 1.5 VSO in the absence of a recommended approach speed."  1.5?