Our Favorite Chute Rigger Bails Out

Kurt Ristow reports:

It seems our favorite parachute rigging lady, Cathie Schlatter, will soon be moving to tropical Ottawa, IL to be closer to a "great drop zone" AND her future husband. She says she has retired from the rigging business and gives me these guys as her replacements: Terry Plank and George Capitanio.
Terry's email and phone # leads me to believe he works and lives in Kokomo. George's phone and email seems to be north of Frankfort somewhere. I'll contact both to see who wants to deal with us and take it from there. See y'all at the airport.

501(c)(3)

Per Don Taylor, the CISS application for 501(c)(3) status is in the hands of our lawyer and will be filed by the end of April.

There's light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train :-) DT

Runway Lights

Mike Nichols and Don Taylor have done springtime maintenance on the
removable runway lights (thanks guys!), and found several of the
electrical connections damaged. Remember: when taking out the runway
lights, it is important to make sure the connector goes underneath the
disc. That way it's protected from damage by tow ropes and aircraft.

The Best Lift Is Usually On Tuesday Anyway

Duane Knotts will host a safety meeting at Alexandria airport on Tuesday, May 3 at 7PM. Pilots, whether CISS members or not, are welcome (and encouraged) to attend. If the weather is good, we could even fly earlier that day and stick around for the meeting.

But Is The Season Ready For Us?

Ron Clarke:

GLIDER FLEET READY FOR THE SEASON
Many thanks to the members who came on out this cold saturday to finish off some projects and then assemble the club gliders . All are now fully assembled but PLEASE ENSURE THAT A VERY THROUGH PRE-FLIGHT INSPECTION IS DONE ON EACH GLIDER BEFORE IT'S FIRST FLIGHT THIS SEASON. Remember it's the pilot's responsibilty to ensure that all systems are working and that all the paperwork is correct and on board.
Thanks also to Jeff Melin and John Dittrich who braved the cold outside while they checked out all the towropes (for towplanes and golf carts).
The Maintenance Crew

Now we'll be ready when the sun finally comes out, if it ever does. What a winter!

Take A Golf Cart To Lunch Day

Not really. We just need a couple of volunteers to check the golf carts out and get them ready for the season. It will involve checking the tires, oil, fuel, looking for rodent's nests in the engine compartment, etc.
Volunteers will also automatically qualify for the pole position in the first golf cart race of the year. Disclaimer: the previous sentence is just false advertising to make the job sound more glamorous.

Grob Wings Done, Mostly By Kurt

ZA writes:

I've just got back from Alex where I finished off the Grob wing wax job. Actually Kurt deserves a mention as he put many hours into the job.
A few good members are needed to help with some early Spring projects. In order to make a troublefree start to the flying season it would be great if a member or two would volunteer to:
1) Check out the 2 golfcarts - change oil/ filters if necessary, check batteries, lubricate and clean, check tire pressures etc. Fill the tanks with gas!
2) Check out the wiring on all the removable runway lights (retape/insulate if necessary) These definitely need attention as we take them out and reinstall many times in a season and Duane depends on us to maintain them as we agreed to do - Otherwise he would of course just leave them permanently in place. And that we don't want!
3) Before rigging the Grob next weekend we need one more small polishing job to be done. The tailplane - and then we're ready to rig.
Come on out if you can help.

If you can help please contact Darren or Ron Clarke to volunteer your
services.

Good News From Marty's Doctor

Former CISS President, longtime crew chief, and honorary den mother Marty Hudson, who's been undergoing chemo and radiation treatment since fall, called me this evening with great news. According to the doctors, her cancer is "in remission;" Marty's translation: it is "gone." Enough said.

Mark Your Calendars

The annual CISS safety meeting is scheduled for 10 AM, Saturday March 19 at the hangar at Alexandria. After the meeting, we will conduct as many biennial flight reviews as possible, weather permitting. Contact Tom Ruble if you would like to have a BFR that day. If the weather is uncooperative, or if we run out of daylight, we will probably conduct BFR's on the 26th as well.
This coming Saturday morning, March 12, several people will be needed at the airport to

1. rig one Blanik,
   
2. move the other Blanik into the heated hangar for sheet metal work on the tail
   
3. turn the left Grob wing over so that the other side can be waxed.

Swamped

Don Taylor had a bad practice day at the Senior Nationals at Seminole Lake Gliderport in Florida yesterday, but fortunately he was not injured. According to Charlie Spratt's report:

All of us are in terror as people began to run toward the last sighting. Suddenly on 123.3 Don’s voice comes over loud and clear “I am down and OK not even a scratch!” We all finally take a breath of relief and began to try and find him.

Don has crashed into the swamp behind some of the airport houses at the north end of the runway. The wings are shredded but the fuselage is undamaged, coming to rest in a cypress with an unbroken canopy some 5 feet above the swamp. Don was able to get out of the glider after once again radioing the gate telling everyone he was OK. By this time someone has called 911 and we can hear the sirens coming toward us.

Several pilots and crews slog through the swamp to get to Don, but he had already walked out.

That's What I Call A Round Trip

Steve Fossett landed safely in Kansas today, after flying a specially-built jet all the way around the world without landing. I expect he will claim several world records, including one once held by a native Hoosier, Lt. Col. Thomas R. Grissom, my grandmother's little brother.

Update: I just googled Great-uncle Tom's name and learned that he was awarded the F.A.I.'s De La Vaulx medal in 1960. Other names on that list include - well, just go read it.

This Medal was established by the FAI in 1933 in memory of the Comte de la Vaulx, founder-member and past President of the FAI who lost his life in an aircraft accident while on a mission for the promotion of Aviation. De la Vaulx Medals are awarded to the holders of recognised absolute world records set during the previous year.