Away Weekend Cancelled, Regular Weekend Still A Possibility

Due to a poor weather forecast, we have decided to cancel our away weekend at Last Resort. Glider operations will continue as normal at Alexandria. Crew Chiefs will decide each day if we will fly.
Hurricanes. Bah, Humbug!

Pete Detore
George Saunders

Minden Midair - Nobody Killed

A bizjet hit a glider at Minden yesterday. The jet's instrument panel was smashed and the pilot injured by the debris but the jet landed gear-up without further serious injuries to anyone on board; the glider pilot parachuted to safety and walked out. Here's an incredible photo (that's the glider's wing spar), and there are a couple more on Flickr. This photo is Creative Commons licensed by the Flickr page owner.

Soaring Tuesday 8/22/06

Folks,
Larry Miller has kindly offered to tow beginning around noon tomorrow. Please let me know how many of you would like to participate and I'll confirm with Larry.
ZA.
--
We have a commitment from several pilots so YES we will be flying tomorrow . First tow at 12:30 so plan accordingly .
Lynn, Bob - here's you chance to fly gliders instead of the tow plane !
Cu at the field ,
ZA.

Melin Adds Twin Rating

Congratulate CISS past president and crew chief Jeff Melin on his new grandchildren! His daughter delivered twins last night. Understandably, Jeff may not be able to make it to his crew day on Saturday, so he's looking for someone to fill in.

BBQ at Mike Warren's!

Mike and Lisa have invited us to their home for a barbeque Friday evening, August 18th. They live at Creekside Farm Airport, formally known as Lazy B Airport.
Activities: Possible activities include: bonfire, hay ride, horse shoes, volley ball, kite flying, hiking on a ½ mile trail, fishing or wading in a creek. If it rains, we may be in the hangar.
What to bring: The Club will supply the meat. Bring something to share, your own table service and lots of family and friends. If your last name begins with A-H, bring a salad, J-R, a desert and S-Z, something to drink. If you can, bring lawn chairs and folding tables.
Directions to the Warren’s : Feel free to fly in! But if you have to drive, Creekside Farm Airport is located just east of Noblesville [...]

Bend An Ear

By now, most CISS members probably know that CFIG Nyal Williams suffered an outlanding in a corn field north of Tipton last Saturday.

If you are visiting this page from a part of the world where they don't grow much corn, also known as zea mays, you might not realize that the stuff stands over eight feet tall, has very tough, fibrous stalks and dense foliage, and in a cornfield in August you can't see more than ten feet in any direction unless you lay flat on the ground and get below the leaves. It can also stop a standard class glider cold in a distance of about 15 feet.

Although Nyal walked out of the field under his own power, he had to spend four days in the hospital due to broken bones. I talked to him today and he is flat on his back at home, looking up at the ceiling, and expecting a long and painful recovery. Once he's up and moving again, he'll be in a back brace for several months, so don't look for him in the back seat of a Blanik for a while. Please join me in wishing him a complete recovery.

Tow Fees Climbing

The price of avgas has gone up again, so the board voted to raise the tow fees to cover the increase. Sorry about that. 100LL was $3.32 in June of 2005; a year later it is up to $4.91. The new tow rates are:

Rope Break	$16
Up to 1000'	$19
1001'-2000'	$26
2001'-3000'	$33
3001'-4000'	$48