Our Elder Statesman

The Lebanon Reporter has this story on our own CFIG Bob Gillan.

After graduating high school, he attended Indiana Central College in Indianapolis, getting his degree in education and embarking on a 44-year career that was interrupted by World War II. The military used his teaching ability and love of flying to instruct other pilots, including a stint at Bunker Hill Naval Air Station (now Grissom Air Base). Later, he helped scientists study hurricanes by flying into the eye and monitoring conditions [All these years I've been listening to Bob's stories and I didn't know about the hurricanes! -ed]. . . Since the mid-1980s, Gillan helped the Central Indiana Soaring Society by giving more than 3,400 free glider lessons at Terry (now Indianapolis Executive) and Alexandria airports. He said many students who have come through his classes have gone on to careers as pilots.

Bob signed me off for my glider checkride - and if you've been around CISS more than a year or two, his signature is probably in your log book too.

CISS Meeting 11/17

There is a regular CISS club meeting Thursday 11/17 at 7pm.
We need to talk about maintenance, the banquet, the spring safety meeting, the PW-5, whether there will be a ground school, the need for our members to actively recruit new students, whether and how to upgrade the fleet, and other things.
As usual the meeting will be at Leppert & Hensley on Range Line Road in Carmel, with a probable trip to Muldoon's afterward.
In past years, we haven't always had a meeting in November, but this year we will.

Tornado Alley, Again

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
557 PM EST TUE NOV 15 2005

INC035-095-152315-
/O.CON.KIND.TO.W.0056.000000T0000Z-051115T2315Z/
DELAWARE-MADISON-
557 PM EST TUE NOV 15 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 615 PM EST FOR
NORTHWESTERN DELAWARE AND MADISON COUNTIES...

AT 552 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR ALEXANDRIA...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF ANDERSON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
GASTON AROUND 605 PM EST
MATTHEWS AROUND 610 PM EST

THIS TORNADO MAY AFFECT INTERSTATE 69 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 40 AND 50.

CISS Initiation Fees Will Go Up Next Season

The CISS initiation fee for new family or adult memberships will go up to $500 (from $400). For student memberships, the fee will go to $200 (from $100). The new rate will be effective on April 1, 2006. This is a great deal; CISS is a healthy flying club with about 65 active members, four club-owned sailplanes, and two tow planes - not counting the sailplanes owned privately by our members (a dozen or more). Glider skills -- stick and rudder, pilotage, judgment and airmanship, among others -- translate directly to airplane skills if you decide to transition later. If you are already a licensed pilot, adding a glider rating is fun and easy, and you don't need a medical certificate. If you are thinking of learning to fly, why not join before the rates go up?

Friday Flying 11/11 at 11

 
We have a tow pilot for Veteran's Day, Friday, 11 November. Let's have the gliders ready to go by 11 am!
On Saturday 11/12 we'll meet at the hangar early for more maintenance work. I suspect there will be Saturday flying too, but I have not personally spoken to any tow pilots about it. 

Who's That Guy In The Grob 103?

On Sixty Minutes, Ed Bradley just did a segment on Ohio boy Neil Armstrong. At the end of the segment, they showed us what kind of flying a fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut, and first man on the moon does for fun these days: he flies sailplanes.

The man who once rode a 160-million horsepower rocket now flies a glider, a plane with no engine.
“Gliders, sail planes, they're wonderful flying machines. It's the closet you can come to being a bird,” says Armstrong.
What does Armstrong get out of gliding? “Oh, it is self satisfaction. A sense of accomplishment. At trying to do a little better than you think you possibly can,” he says.

There's more at the SSA website.

Troubled Sleep In Tornado Alley

When that cold front went through last night, the wind was so loud it woke me up at 2AM. I learned from CNN and the National Weather Service this morning that a tornado touched down in Kentucky around the same time, crossed into Indiana near Evansville, and killed 19 people. Hospitals reported over 100 patients. This is the worst loss of life from tornados in a single day in the U.S. since 1998.

Every Saturday Morning!

 We will begin our Winter Maintenance projects tomorrow - and every Saturday from now on at the hangar at Alexandria. All are welcome. We'll start by listing all the maintenance needs and probably do some no brainer stuff like cleaning up the equipment. If the weather is good (and we have a tow pilot) we'll fly too. 

Wednesday Flying

Per ZA:

We have at least 3 pilots who would like to fly tomorrow, and Lynn Joyce has agreed to tow. I suggest we plan for the first t/o at 1pm. Lynn can only tow 'til 3pm, so if you're interested be sure to get your glider ready and get your tow in by 2:50pm !!!
CU at the field- I'll be there by 11:00am

  

QT at CVS

The last Saturday of the 2005 regular soaring season was a blue-thermal day and nobody got very far from home. Here's Mike Nichols cruising past the drugstore in Alexandria. Google Map of the spot here.