New CISS Member

Welcome new member Tom Beckenbauer.  Tom holds a private pilot airplane certificate and will be adding a glider rating.

CISS / SSA Exhibit at AMA 75th Anniversary Celebration

A number of CISS members and families helped promote soaring and CISS at this event. Volunteers included Mike Nichols, Don Taylor, Lynn Joyce, Ron Clarke, Nyal Williams, Rick Hansen, Gardiner Dennis, Doug Heim, Larry Miller along with his wife and grandchildren, David Waymire along with his wife and daughter, John Day, Olaf Tessarzyk and his wife and son, Dick Hutchinson, and Emily Grant.

The Condor simulator was very popular and many future glider pilots had a chance to try their skills. Mike's Libelle also attracted a lot of attention including Shuttle Commander "Hoot" Gibson.

Everyones efforts paid off with 3 people coming from the event to Alex for FAST flights on Sunday afternoon. Several others have indicated they will be visiting the airport soon.

The SSA donated a FAST flight won in the raffle by Scott Marquette from Indianapolis.

As you can see, everyone seemed to be having fun and there was a lot of activity.

CISS at the AMA 75th Anniversary Celebration

Many thanks to all the CISS members who have helped at the CISS/SSA booth at the AMA event.

I think most will agree that it has been an opportunity to meet some interesting people and have some fun. The general consensus is that we will sell some rides and may get a few new members. Time will tell.

Emily Grant spent a good part of the day Friday checking out young future pilots on the Condor Flight Simulator. She had one doing rolls without using the rudder and many landing on their first flight. This lady has a lot of potential as a future CISS instructor.

On Thursday, Mike Nichols had the opportunity to visit with shuttle commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson. While their conversation was out of earshot, the rumor was that Mike was telling Hoot that he should not anticipate much trouble stepping up to a "slippery" glass ship like the Libelle. Hoot has been flying a glider with a max L/D of 4.5 with a best L/D speed of 200 kts called the shuttle. He got his glider rating in a Schweizer 2-33.

 The event is on through Saturday and Sunday the  16th and 17th of July. If your schedule permits, come on out and enjoy the action.

CISS tow pilot Ed Escalon will be flying EAA Young Eagle flights from the adjacent Reese Airport on Saturday.

Nate Zitnick Solo July 10, 2011

Congratulations to Nate Zitnick, CISS's newest solo pilot. Nate is shown below with his wing runner (and father) Bob and CISS instructor Olaf Tessarzyk celebrating his accomplishment. 

Nate was also on crew duty, but Crew Chief Tod Herrli gave him a break to go flying. Bob also got a break for a couple of flights. A great day and a lot of fun at the glider port !

Gardiner Dennis Solo July 9, 2011

Congratulations to Gardiner Dennis, CISS's newest solo pilot.

Gardiner is shown below with his parents, Bob and Sally Dennis, and his grandmother Helen Wells celebrating his accomplishment. 

Shortly after this picture was taken Crew Chief, Josh Daisey assisted by Chris Hall helped Gardiner  cool down by treating him to the traditional bucket of cold water.

Outstanding Flights from I99 on 8 July

On 8 July, Ron Clark flew from Alexandria to Ionia Michigan a distance of approximately 165 miles. This will be an new Indiana state distance record for a flight to declared goal.

Jerry Simpson flew to Kendallville Indiana and back on the same day, a distance of approximately 152 miles round trip.

Congratulations to Ron and Jerry.

If you have been letting the hot summer weather convince you to stay away from the airport, it might be time to reconsider.