Saturday, May 31, 2008
Saturday Flights
George
Saturday Flying
George
Friday, May 30, 2008
Fwd: Thursday report
From: ZASoars
You can't always believe the forecasts . When we put the fleet away
this afternoon ( late ) the temperature was 74 degrees and the dew
point 39 degrees . So that should have meant that lift went to about
8000 msl . NO WAY . We were lucky to get to 5000 msl . I can only
assume that the instability was poor due to the high pressure . That's
the way it goes sometimes. However a very good number of flights were
made and I counted no less than 10 gliders on the field at launch time
- a record mid week turn out ? .
Tod Herrli flew 2 hours after soloing last weekend and I suspect Jack
Hensel may have also . Way to go guys . Not to look like a wimp Gerry
Simpson set off cross country at high speed and when I left the field
he was waiting for his crew ( George, Gordo and Tod ) to retrieve him
out of a hay field somewhere north of Alex.
CU all on the weekend. Thanks to Larry for the tows .
ZA.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Fwd: Thursday Flying [5/29]
From: ZASoars
It does look like both tomorrow and Thursday are likely to be good
soaring days this week . The proposal is to fly Thursday and Larry
Miller has agreed to tow . Come on out if you can make it, I suggest
11:30am to help get any club gliders and the tow planes out .
ZA.
ps. If anyone wants to fly Wednesday too please let the rest of us
know if any flying arrangements are made !
Fwd: Flying this week ?
From: ZASoars
Fellow Pilots ,
Both Wednesday and Thursday look like good flying days and I believe
we could probably get a tow pilot if there is enough interest .
Please let me know which of those days you would like to fly and if
there is enough interest we'll try to get a day set up.
Ron (ZA).
Fwd: May 24 results
From: Don Taylor
Saturday was a tough day to go cross country, but a number of our
pilots did just that. Two who didn't make the scoresheet because they
didn't meet the minimum requirements a la the rules, were Saunders and
Simpson. Too bad we don't have a score for effort. Ristow did make
the flight up to Portland and back and will be added to the May 24
scoresheet as soon as his trace can be retrieved from his logger.
Brad Hays speaks for all, I think, describing his flight to Portland
and back. He made the lowest save I've seen on any trace so far in
the 6 years we've been doing this: 420 ft AGL !! (Be careful out
there: ed.)
In Brad's words "I scrubbed the flight to Marion (spent too much
time getting away from Marion)..... want to claim Alexandria to
Portland to Alexandria. Conditions were not fantastic. Very
disorganized thermals below 3,000 ft. and surface winds made them hard
to center. Better to have stayed high this day. My flight to
Portland against an 8 to 14 knot headwind was predictable...better to
stay on course and fly into and with the lift than to attempt to
circle in it. However, the return flight did not produce the
corresponding tailwind as the winds tended to die-down later in the
day. Almost landed out in a farm field 20+ miles from Alex but,
found some lift at 3 - 400 ft AGL...landing gear extended, ready to
turn to base leg....this one got me away. It was slow going and a
struggle to reach Alex but, good experience for the gray computer.
Most likely won't like the score due to slow return but, it was
fun!!!! VT "
Monday, May 26, 2008
Ground Handling
In ground handling, it's not good practice to rotate a sailplane in place on the main gear. It's even less good to do it with two people in the glider. On the asphalt, it can wear a bald spot on the tire. On the grass, especially after a recent rain, it can tear a big divot out of the grass. I forgot this simple rule on Saturday and this was the result:
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Firewood Donations Needed (But Read This First)
If you don't know what the Emerald Ash Borer is, it's a nasty little green bug, an exotic pest that kills ash trees. Keep reading...
Cheryl and I have a bonfire/wiener/marshmallow roast planned for one night of the seminar. However, we need some firewood to burn. If those of you who have fireplaces have a leftover piece or two of wood and could bring it to the airport next time you're out, we would be VERY grateful. (We need it by the last week in June.) I don't even HAVE a fireplace, so can't help at all. Kurt says the SE corner of the gravel parking lot would be his preferred place to stack it, temporarily.
Thanks so much in advance!
Marty Hudson
Our airport is in Madison County which is NOT an infested area (yet). It would be illegal to bring firewood there from an infested county, and unfortunately certain townships in Marion County and Hamilton County ARE infested and those entire counties are under firewood quarantine. Please do NOT move any hardwood firewood from Marion or Hamilton County to Alexandria!
Fortunately we as a club are accustomed to navigating complicated regulatory requirements - but who thought a pile of firewood would be such a bureaucratic nightmare? Well, it doesn't have to be. It's legal to bring firewood to Alexandria from a non-quarantine area, and lots of CISS members live in non-quarantined counties.
The quarantine applies to all hardwood firewood, not just ash. It does not apply to conifers.
This will be a great bonfire!
Here's the law.
Here's more information.
Here's a map of Indiana showing infested and uninfested counties.
Quarantines.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Friday Flying
George
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Friday Flying [5/23/08]
George
Monday, May 19, 2008
Flying Monday
George
Sunday Hangar Flying Report
From: ZASoars
This Sunday the weather was a little too windy for flying so the
members that showed up lent a hand and some really good work was done
! Dick Hutch was seen mowing around the office with his push mower (
not quite as quick as with the ride-on mower ) The cleaning up and of
the hangars continues and thanks to all especially some of our newest
members - Gordon , Dave and Bruce we set up a new charging station
for the club's hand held radios ( on the west wall near the glider
battery charger ) and have the heated hangar looking really good .
The field crew worked on removing the concrete gate post on the east
end but it's going to be a long process to remove unless we resort to
some kind of mechanical equipment ! They sure were serious about
setting farm gate posts solidly in concrete in past years .
Thanks to all who helped .
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Flying Friday
George
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Great help given, a little more needed
Which brings us to the point of this article. A big THANK YOU goes out to those individual members of our club whose generosity made the purchase of the airport possible. When all the pledges made have been sent in, the Capital Campaign will have raised approximately $51,000 this year.
But not everyone has made a pledge, perhaps maybe because they did not think they could make a significant contribution. But there is no such thing as an INsignificant contribution. Wouldn’t it say a lot about our Club if 100% of our members made a donation of some amount—any amount—to fully enable us to complete the conversion of the field to a gliderport? We still have some important tasks ahead of us: seeding, leveling, draining, signage, showers and bunks to name a few.
The committee would like to ask every member who has not yet pledged or sent in a (tax deductible) gift to consider doing so now to help us complete our airport conversion. What about using part of your windfall tax rebate? If each could help with a gift of say, $100 (or more) we would raise another $3,000 for the cause.
In about a month we plan to post in the main office a plaque with the names of all the contributors who helped make this opportunity a reality. Could we make it 100%?
The Capital Campaign Committee.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Club Meeting on Thursday
George
Monday, May 12, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
SSA Picture this Saturday
George
Monday, May 05, 2008
Fwd: Tuesday flying
After voting you might consider soaring. Bob Currie has agreed to tow tomorrow, but only a few have indicated an interest so far. Come on out for a 1pm start if you can. Today was good. DT climbed to 7999 msl and we experienced the passage of a weak cold front while flying. George got current in his new ship CAT. Watch for developments here ! ZA.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Hangar Flying Saturday
of work to be done around the airport.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ZASoars
With much to do at "OUR" field we appreciate members help on non
flying days . Today ( Saturday ) about six members showed up at Alex
and we were able to begin to organize some of the newly acquired
"stuff " that was purchased at the auction.
As well a Weight and Balance was done on the Grob .
Thank you to those who came out to help .
Fwd: Monday flying
From: ZASoars
Fellow Pilots ,
Monday looks good and Lynn Joyce has agreed to tow beginning 1:15 . I
suggest we get out to the field no later than 12 noon to get things
organized .
CU there ,
ZA.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Blow Out for Saturday
Sunday should be a different story: looks promising. Monday - Wednesday also look good with tow pilots available on Mon and Wed. Keep the faith.
Hangar Rental
Trailer tie down outside $ 30 per month
Glider trailer in T hangar $ 40 per month
Glider tie down outside $ 45 per month
Glider rigged in big hangar $ 175 per month
Glider rigged in big hangar with (corresponding empty) trailer in the
T hangar $2000/year (paid in advance)
To accommodate everyone, Kurt has agreed to work with the remaining
private power plane owners to ensure space is available in the
T-Hangars no later than the next 60 days, and in fact some space has
already been freed up with the moving of the Stinson out of one of the
T hangars.
If you have a glider and /or trailer you would like to keep at the
field call Kurt to make arrangements.
Any other questions please call Kurt .
Thursday, May 01, 2008
2008 CISS CLUB SOARING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The CISS club contest is designed as a means for beginning cross-country pilots and racing pilots to practice their skills and fly together in a friendly system where information and techniques are generously shared....