Well, at least we tried. Stupid weather! See you all on Saturday, when the big fun will be de-rigging and re-rigging the Astir to see if we can actually get it back into the trailer.Dear Midweek Flyers:
Who wants to fly on Friday? It looks like a GREAT post frontal day - lift 500+, cumulus 2+, cloud base 7000, lift to 10,000. Winds out of the NNW at 10-15 mph. I suggest we arrive at 11:00 and start towing at 12:00. I've sent an email to tow pilots to see if we can catch a ride.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Friday Flying 6/2? Cancelled due to weather
Monday, May 29, 2006
Sunday May 28th
Mario Lazaga reports on Sunday May 28th:
We had a hot and HEEOOMEED day.
But the flying was good.
We had a very active day, with 18 flights, of which 10 were by Students, 5 by Robert Holcombe alone.
2 tow/rope break exercises, one first solo flight (Ed Escallon).
George Saunders flew the Astir for the first time.
Terry Wools, Kurt Ristow and Gerry Simpson did more than 3 hours, and even crew members got to fly at the end of the day.
Thanks to Mike Nichols, Ken Harry, Scot Ortman.
We had a fun, smooth flying day.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Lee Bottom News
It looks like the weather will be reasonably cooperative for this weekend at Lee Bottom. The Grob 103 and the PW-5 are both going, the other club gliders are staying at Alexandria. There's a chance of thunderstorms Sunday, so we'll exercise due caution.
NEWS FLASH: Ginger just emailed me and said the guys from the Bardstown, Kentucky club are bringing a tow plane and gliders too - one glider is already there, in fact.
So far at least 9 CISS pilots have told me they are planning to make the trip, and several are bringing spouses and/or kids. This includes a great many of the same people who went last year, which is a sure sign that we had a great time.
NEWS FLASH: Ginger just emailed me and said the guys from the Bardstown, Kentucky club are bringing a tow plane and gliders too - one glider is already there, in fact.
So far at least 9 CISS pilots have told me they are planning to make the trip, and several are bringing spouses and/or kids. This includes a great many of the same people who went last year, which is a sure sign that we had a great time.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
May 13 and 14 Flying Cancelled
Saturday's D.O., Marty Hudson, has cancelled flying on Saturday 5/13, due to the bad weather forecast.
UPDATE: Terry Wools has also cancelled flying on Sunday 5/14 for the same good reason.
UPDATE: Terry Wools has also cancelled flying on Sunday 5/14 for the same good reason.
Friday, May 12, 2006
CFIG Material
Cheryl Beckage, the SSA Governor for Indiana, is the 2006 recipient of the Maria Faber Scholarship! Phyllis Wells, the Chairman of the WSPA Scholarship Committee, said that "[t]he committee was impressed with [Cheryl's] hours and experience in gliders [and] dedication to the sport of soaring." As are we. Congratulations, Cheryl.
Board Action
The CISS Board met last night and took several actions, some of which I remember:
1. With daylight savings time, flying tends to go an hour later in the evening (and the occasional morning fog tends to lift an hour later). Therefore we pushed the start time for weekend flying back a half an hour as a compromise. Crews will now be expected to arrive at the airport by 9AM (instead of 8:30AM.) Student flying will continue until 1PM instead of noon. We hope this will be less punishing for the crews.
2. When both single-seat club gliders (the Astir and the PW-5) are available for use on weekends, flights in either of them will be normally limited to two hours instead of one hour. Members who want to make longer flights (five hour silver duration, for example) can seek permission from the crew chief to do so in individual cases.
3. We adopted a list of pilot qualifications for flying the Astir. Pilots must hold a private pilot license or better, with a glider rating, and must have had at least 5 dual instructional flights in the Grob 103 before being checked out in the Astir. A pilot must have a cockpit checkout, pass the written test, and have a club instructor endorsement for that aircraft in his or her logboook before flying any club glider.
4. The Board approved taking both the Grob 103 and the PW-5 to Lee Bottom next weekend (May 20-21). We may not have an instructor at Lee Bottom, but we should have commercial pilots available to give introductory sailplane flights in the Grob 103. We will have instructors and normal student training operations at Alexandria as usual that weekend at the same time, and the Blaniks and the Astir will be available for flying at Alexandria.
5. The next regular club meeting will be at Leppert & Hensley at 7PM on May 18, and in addition to everything else on the program I will have more information about the Lee Bottom Weekend.
6. There will be no regular club meeting in June. The July 20 meeting will be at the MCL in Castleton at 7 PM. Come early and have dinner before the meeting.
1. With daylight savings time, flying tends to go an hour later in the evening (and the occasional morning fog tends to lift an hour later). Therefore we pushed the start time for weekend flying back a half an hour as a compromise. Crews will now be expected to arrive at the airport by 9AM (instead of 8:30AM.) Student flying will continue until 1PM instead of noon. We hope this will be less punishing for the crews.
2. When both single-seat club gliders (the Astir and the PW-5) are available for use on weekends, flights in either of them will be normally limited to two hours instead of one hour. Members who want to make longer flights (five hour silver duration, for example) can seek permission from the crew chief to do so in individual cases.
3. We adopted a list of pilot qualifications for flying the Astir. Pilots must hold a private pilot license or better, with a glider rating, and must have had at least 5 dual instructional flights in the Grob 103 before being checked out in the Astir. A pilot must have a cockpit checkout, pass the written test, and have a club instructor endorsement for that aircraft in his or her logboook before flying any club glider.
4. The Board approved taking both the Grob 103 and the PW-5 to Lee Bottom next weekend (May 20-21). We may not have an instructor at Lee Bottom, but we should have commercial pilots available to give introductory sailplane flights in the Grob 103. We will have instructors and normal student training operations at Alexandria as usual that weekend at the same time, and the Blaniks and the Astir will be available for flying at Alexandria.
5. The next regular club meeting will be at Leppert & Hensley at 7PM on May 18, and in addition to everything else on the program I will have more information about the Lee Bottom Weekend.
6. There will be no regular club meeting in June. The July 20 meeting will be at the MCL in Castleton at 7 PM. Come early and have dinner before the meeting.
Monday, May 08, 2006
More Silver
Yesterday Dan Dewitt flew his LS-4, IZ, to The Airport Formerly Known As Terry and back.
This is shaping up into quite a month for silver badge legs:
Here's hoping for even better conditions when we make the trip to Lee Bottom on the 20th and 21st.
This is shaping up into quite a month for silver badge legs:
- May 3: George Saunders got his 50km silver distance and possibly his 1000M altitude gain,
- May 6: Dave Newill got his 5 hour silver duration flight, and Gerry Simpson got his duration and distance,
- May 7: Dan Dewitt got his distance and altitude.
Here's hoping for even better conditions when we make the trip to Lee Bottom on the 20th and 21st.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Silver Saturday
Two CISS pilots earned silver badge legs yesterday, as Mario Lazaga reports:
Hi-five Jerry Simpson, our latest Silver Badge recipient. He earned his Silver Duration and Distance legs Saturday in his LS-4 by flying to Boone County and back, then hanging around Alexandria for two hours to complete 5:20 minutes. His Silver altitude had long been achieved.Meanwhile:
His flight to Boone County Airport took about 1:30 minutes; his flight back to Alexandria about as long.
Dave Newill has accomplished the 5+ hours Silver Duration. He took off about 30 minutes before Jerry Simpson, and managed to stay up all 300 minutes and then some.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
The Prodigal Sun[ship] Returns
Congratulate George Saunders when you see him; he earned his silver altitude and distance legs today in the PW-5 by flying to Hagerstown. I'll try to get him to write an account of his flight, but in the meantime here's my story.
I went with him, declaring Hagerstown as a turnpoint for an out and return. About halfway out, we got a radio call from Jeff Melin who reported that back at Alexandria the lift had completely died!
When I made the turnpoint and looked back at the way home, it was pretty bleak. There were a few scruffy cumulus clouds north of me, but they didn't look like much, and they weren't. Each time I ran into lift, it gave out lower than the time before. I decided to divert toward the Wilson family's private runway, where we had an away weekend last year, and see if anything developed along the way (and I was not very hopeful, because now there were no signs of lift ahead of me whatsoever). I made a radio call that I was heading for The Last Resort.
About two miles out from the Wilsons' airstrip, I ran into lift and made a few turns. It was broken up and hard to work, so I continued on over the runway, where I found more, better organized lift. I started to work it, and was barely breaking even at first, but I gained a few hundred feet. Then I spotted a red-shouldered hawk circling over the Wilsons' barn. I got a close look at it from above, then from the side, then from below as it outclimbed me. I got the impression that it was not too happy about the big white bird hanging out on its turf. I gained about a thousand feet of altitude with its help, though, and turned to the north. A few seconds later, far overhead and just ahead of me, a flight of migrating birds wheeled into a circle as they hit another thermal. I was really saved now. I gained another 800 feet in the lift they marked for me.
At that point, I was right on the edge of final glide to Alexandria. Five miles later I ran into another thermal and gained another 800 feet. I think I held my breath for the last 13 miles home.
I landed at Alexandria and didn't see anyone around. When I walked around the corner of the T hangars, there were Dick Hutch and Todd Rutledge, just about to hitch the trailer to my car! They had heard I was heading for The Last Resort and thought I'd be needing a trailer retrieve.
I was lucky to make it back. Pete Detore retrieved George from Hagerstown.
I posted my trace to the OLC. You can see my route and the save, and download the IGC file from there, if you are interested.
I went with him, declaring Hagerstown as a turnpoint for an out and return. About halfway out, we got a radio call from Jeff Melin who reported that back at Alexandria the lift had completely died!
When I made the turnpoint and looked back at the way home, it was pretty bleak. There were a few scruffy cumulus clouds north of me, but they didn't look like much, and they weren't. Each time I ran into lift, it gave out lower than the time before. I decided to divert toward the Wilson family's private runway, where we had an away weekend last year, and see if anything developed along the way (and I was not very hopeful, because now there were no signs of lift ahead of me whatsoever). I made a radio call that I was heading for The Last Resort.
About two miles out from the Wilsons' airstrip, I ran into lift and made a few turns. It was broken up and hard to work, so I continued on over the runway, where I found more, better organized lift. I started to work it, and was barely breaking even at first, but I gained a few hundred feet. Then I spotted a red-shouldered hawk circling over the Wilsons' barn. I got a close look at it from above, then from the side, then from below as it outclimbed me. I got the impression that it was not too happy about the big white bird hanging out on its turf. I gained about a thousand feet of altitude with its help, though, and turned to the north. A few seconds later, far overhead and just ahead of me, a flight of migrating birds wheeled into a circle as they hit another thermal. I was really saved now. I gained another 800 feet in the lift they marked for me.
At that point, I was right on the edge of final glide to Alexandria. Five miles later I ran into another thermal and gained another 800 feet. I think I held my breath for the last 13 miles home.
I landed at Alexandria and didn't see anyone around. When I walked around the corner of the T hangars, there were Dick Hutch and Todd Rutledge, just about to hitch the trailer to my car! They had heard I was heading for The Last Resort and thought I'd be needing a trailer retrieve.
I was lucky to make it back. Pete Detore retrieved George from Hagerstown.
I posted my trace to the OLC. You can see my route and the save, and download the IGC file from there, if you are interested.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Wednesday Flying
George Saunders has organized flying for tomorrow, May 3. He and towpilot Bob Currie will be at the field at 11 AM unless the weather forecast gets worse, in which case he'll call it off by 8 AM. Peter Detore, Jeff Melin and I are also planning to fly.
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