Black Forest Soaring Society

The Online Calendar

Our club maintains an online calendar for scheduling gliders, tows, and providing timely information to our membership. It is available from the members only area so is password protected.

The password protects our privacy and prevents non-members from tampering with our schedule.

We strongly encourage ALL members planning to be out at the airport to sign up for a time slot either on a particular glider, want a tow, Line Volunteer, Instructor, or Student positions. The calendar is open to changes up to and including the current day, so if you arrive at the airport, and decide to fly, please grab a time slot so others, possibly checking from home, are aware the glider is booked.

Scheduling hints and tips

The online calendar provides a means of communicating our intent to fly on a particular day. The tow pilot might use a light schedule to decide to make plans to arrive late or depart early. Folks signing up as Line Volunteer may decide there is no need for help if the schedule is light, or if the schedule is full, we may get a few more volunteers showing up to help with launches and retrieves.

Gliders

Please schedule flying time only, and not the time you plan for a preflight briefing of a student or ride passenger. Early in the day, try to take off, if possible, before the scheduled time. This allows us to have the flexibility of slowly getting behind as the day goes on.

Remember, the schedule is more to set an order to the day's flying, rather than a specific takeoff time. So come out early in case the glider is ready for you, and if not, then help out with a few wing runs. If all pilots showed up for a tow at 11:00, with a 10 minute tow cycle time, it could be noon before the last of the 11:00 time slots were launched. So come out early!

If you are not at the airport at least 15 minutes before the scheduled launch time, someone who is, has the right to bump you. We don't want to see gliders sitting on the ground waiting for the pilot to show up!

If a glider is going to be unavailable for several days due to maintenance, please use the multiple days option to take the glider offline for the estimated downtime.

Line Volunteer

If you don't plan to fly, grab a time slot in this column. If someone is signed for all day and you would like to help, the best method is to make a note of who is signed up and for what time slot, then delete the entry. Then create two shorter entries that cumulatively cover the sane time range. One entry should contain the previously noted name and a time ranve in the comments field. THe second entry will be yours.

We suggest the Line Volunteer be a half day post, with two members sharing the duty over the course of a day.

Instructor

We encourage our instructors to be available for more than one student per day. So if you have arranged to fly with someone, please use this column to indicate when, and how long you plan to be at the airport. The fill in the Student column to indicate how much time you plan to spend with your student(s).

Student

Nearly all instructional sessions will require some time to prepare for the flight, and then some time for debrief. Use this column to block out the time spent with the student, and use the glider reservation only for the time you plan to be actually using the glider.

Want a Tow

Private owners should sign up here, so we have an idea of how many tows are needed. This is NOT to be used to determine a time or order of launch, just a convenient way to indicate an interest to fly. So just grab a 30 minute slot sometime in the middle of the day.

If you want a tow before 1000 or after 1500, do mention this in the comment field, so the tow pilot is aware, especially if the schedule is light.

Tow Pilot

Our most valued members! Try to sign up as early as possible in order to encourage folks to sign up for tows. If it looks like a busy day, consider finding another tow pilot to split the day or at least provide a lunch and rest break in the early afternoon.

All members should become familiar with fueling the towplane. This way, when the plane comes in for fuel, the tow pilot can get a 5-10 minute break while someone fuels the plane.

Events

Want to drum up some intereset for a BBQ? Heard about a TFR? Teaching a short class? Or anything else that might be of interest, just add it to the events field.