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Touring Motor Gliders Association (TMGA)

Historical Figures


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We have uploaded significant information and photos of Mira Slovak.

Articles in the Knowledgebase: link1 link2

Files in the Knowledgebase: file

Photo Galleries: link

Rumor has it that he intends to attend this year's West Coast Touring Motor Glider Fly-In: link1 link2

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  • 3 weeks later...

Jim McCann was a well-known Touring Motor Glider instructor, check pilot, ferry pilot, and sales representative. He me with an untimely death in his new bird. Here is a report from the newspaper at : link

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Article published Feb 7, 2012

Weather factors may have brought glider pilot down

Man died near Glacier club in July 2011

By Dale Rodebaugh Herald Staff Writer

Weather – thunderstorms, gusty wind, rain and downdrafts – could have caused a motorized glider to crash last year near the Glacier Club, killing the 79-year-old pilot, the National Traffic Safety Board says.

Durango resident James Price McCann died July 8, 2011, from injuries suffered when the glider went down near the golf course.

McCann, a retired Air Force pilot, was operating a Pipistrel Taurus. A review of McCann’s log book showed he had about 7,349 hours flying, including 40.5 hours in that particular model, the NTSB report said.

The report is not the final one.

The report said a mid-level front was moving eastward through the area around the Glacier Club at the time of the accident, about 4:33 p.m.

“The front brought gusty winds, rain showers and thunderstorms,” the report said. “Upper air soundings recorded conditions favorable for strong downward gusts up to 40 knots.”

McCann held a commercial-pilot certificate for multi- and single-engine planes and gliders. He had an instrument rating.

The Pipistrel Taurus is a two-seat craft powered by a 50-horspower Rotax 503 UL engine.

The NTSB cites the report of La Plata County Coroner Carole Huser, who said the cause of death was an accident. Huser said the pilot’s pacemaker did not indicate a prior cardiac event.

The pattern of injuries is identical to the pattern seen in motor-vehicle drivers who are gripping the steering wheel tightly at the moment of impact.

An annual-condition inspection of McCann’s glider was made May 16, 2011, the NTSB said. Nine days later, the glider was issued an airworthiness certificate.

McCann was a well-respected veteran of the aviation community. When he moved from Florida to Durango, McCann worked with Durango Fire & Rescue Authority on search-and-rescue missions.

He was a sales representative of Ximango USA, a company that sells Brazilian-made motorized gliders. He sold several of the craft to the Air Force Academy training program in Colorado Springs in 2001.

McCann flew his own Ximango gliders around the world, including a 10-day, 7,036-mile flight from the Ximango factory in Brazil to Durango.

daler@durangoherald.com

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