Thursday Flying Report From ZA

"Thursday was a good soaring day (if you had patience). Lift got better as the day progressed and the dewpoint dropped.
Darren made an excellent o/r flight in his ASW 15 to Indianapolis Executive (Terry) starting out when conditions were only barely soarable.* ZA chickened out of a 200km triangle speed attempt as the speed was too low (maybe regretting the decision as he flew back to Alex in the best air of the day).
This time of the year what it takes is the passage of a front ( hardly cold!) and then to spring into action the next day - if you're lucky enough to be able to. Unfortuanately many frontal passages result in backing up warm fronts that then bring in hot/moist air (this coming friday and saturday) which means the conditions go downhill for a day or so. Maybe 7 or more flights today in total - George, Larry, Jim, Nyal were there. Thanks for towing Bob."

*Actually, I was anxious to get started and took a 2000 foot tow before conditions were soarable. 15 minutes later I was back on the runway looking for a 3000 foot tow. I took my second launch at 2PM and even then had to tiptoe my way out on course. The round trip to Terry took me two and a half hours.
The shame of it is, I made the decision to abort my 300km task shortly after arriving at Terry, because it had taken me an hour and a half to get there. But then it only took me an hour to get back.
- Darren

Storm Birds

The thunderstorms that came through town back on June 19, in addition to breaking my computer and forcing me to buy a new one, knocked the top out of a fairly large tree a block from my house.
The next morning, these two hawks were sitting on a neighbor's roof. I think they are red-shouldered hawks like the one I blogged about here. The barred tails, facial markings, and translucent patches near the wingtips are what persuaded me.
That, and the fact that red-shouldered hawks are reportedly very vocal, especially during courtship, and the bird on the right was calling constantly while I took these pictures. COULD IT BE LOVE?

Thursday 6/29 Flying

ZA:

Thanx to a little push from George Saunders (who leaves town on Friday) and a quick review of Dr. Jack it looks like we might get some good soaring in Thursday. Bob Currie will tow from 12:00 noon on.
Let me know if you're interested and we'll know how many to expect.
Ron (ZA).

It Pays TBD

Mario Lazaga reports:

It pays to be determined.
Last Saturday, June 24th, Dan Dewitt flew his last leg for the Silver Badge by staying airborne 5 hours and 10 minutes after release.
The flight was "uneventful" but not boring. In his last hour of the 5, he circled at pattern altitude for almost an hour, unable to reach the stronger clouds just a couple of miles away. But his persistence payed off, and he was able to climb enough to get out of trouble and into the list of Silver Badge recipients.

This is an actual picture of Dan, taken by Mario's nephew from the Grob 103 as they circled in the same thermal.

Congratulations Dan.

The Smoking Mouse

As some of you know, the severe storms that blew through the area one week ago today knocked out my desktop computer (with most of my critical business records) at the exact moment that my new law practice is busier than ever. I've been digging myself out from under that mess for the last week, so I haven't been keeping up with the weblog. Today I caught up on posting, and they are all in reverse order, so please read all the way down to the first post for today.

CISS Members Get 500km Flights

Nyal Williams and Gerry Whitson made the long drive to Moriarty, New Mexico earlier this month, and each of them made a 500 km flight while there. Nice work guys!

Chute The Messenger

Midsummer parachute repacking season is almost upon us, and Ron Clarke plans to make the pilgrimage to Kokomo after the July 4th weekend. Get your parachute to him so it can be sanctified anew.

Sweet Sailplane For Sale

Gerry Whitson is selling his ASW-15:

I wanted to give CISS club members the first chance to buy my ASW-15. If you're interested, please contact me via email.

Here are the details.
Interior = 9.0
Exterior = 9.0

1970 ASW-15
- Gelcoat and Winglets done 1995 by David Nelson.
- Garmin 90 GPS
- EW View Data logger and software
- Cambridge Mnav w/vario
- Winter mechanical vario
- Total time = 1855.3 (as of 06/22/06)
- Last annual 11/01/05 by John Murray (Eastern Sailplane)
- Shredder trailer with passive venting. I've towed N15LJ to Moriarty, NM the last two years.
- All tow out gear; tow bar, wing dolly, and tail dolly. All in great condition.
- Terra 720 radio (not working)
- plantronics headset, ptt switch on stick and small speaker behind pilot.
- Two wing stands and one tail stand.
- Cloth Canopy cover.
- Some spare parts, new tire tube and extra tail wheels.
- Canopy was replaced in mid 90's and frame reinforced with carbon fiber by
Nelson.
- Wedikind safety clips installed for aileron and divebrake connector rods.
(Big plus when rigging)
- Max takeoff wt. = 700 lbs.
Empty wt. = 516 lbs.
======
Max pilot wt. = 184 lbs.

Improvements since May 2004, when I purchased N15LJ
- New Seatbelts (2006)
- Modified tow hook from offset CG position to Aero position (done by Eastern Sailplane in 2005)
- Installed new tow hook at same time
- Oxygen system (I've used this equipment the last two years in Moriarty, NM)
- EV54 Steel bottle
- Regulator
- Aerox Flowmeter
- Oxysaver cannula
- Laptop computer for running EW View and SeeYou Software
- One person (Udo) assembly dolly with all accessories (purchased 01/01/06)
- Relief system

N15LJ is a great first sailplane. My last flight was Diamond Distance.
Asking price is $21k. Pictures upon request.

Crew Swap Needed

Marty Wilkey sent around an email saying he desperately needs a crew swap for this Sunday, July 2. Help him out if you can.

Fathers Day Flying Rained Out

No flying today, 18 June 2006. Low cloud base and rain.

Thursday Flying

Lynn Joyce will tow tomorrow afternoon 6/15/06. The weather looks good. Let's fly!

Weather forecast:

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low near 58. North northeast wind between 4 and 7 mph becoming calm.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph.

No Flying Saturday

There is no chance of flying today, Saturday 6/10, so Marty has called it off. It's already raining at Alexandria (between half and three-quarters of an inch in the last hour, according to the National Weather Service radar) and there is a line of storms streching all the way to Wisconsin, headed directly toward Madison County. Oh, and I can hear thunder as I type this.

Back In Business

Tow plane 898 is working again, thanks to a temporary magneto swap and a few other things. Let's fly!

No Flying Monday

Pawnee 898 developed engine issues today (a magneto problem, possibly) so there won't be any flying Monday 6/5/06. The maintenance crew is already on it, and I'll post the news here as soon as we are up and running.

Sufficient Nuts Found To Assemble Astir

Yesterday morning, just for practice and to see if it could be done, some of our members got serious about the nuts and bolts of cross country preparation:
George Saunders says:

. . .a hearty thanks to Pete, Craig, Chris, Ron, Nyal, and John Haynes who disassembled and reassembled the Astir on Saturday. Also assisting were Terry, Mario and Dan. Notes and pictures will be put together to make an assembly instruction sheet. Chris has offered to make some improvements to the trailer. Thanks to their hard work, the Astir was disassembled, put in the trailer, reassembled and ready for flight by 1 pm. THANKS!

Also yesterday afternoon, Ron Clarke notified me of a new state record claim for distance using up to three turnpoints in the sports class.