Monday, May 4, 2009

Weekend Report May 2 - 3

Something very unusual has happened this year.

Typically, we get three or four new members joining the club throughout the soaring season. This year, we met five enthusiastic new pilots on Day 1.  And yes, they are all already pilots.

Matt Benard, Paul Dixon, and Bill Swartz have joined the club, and Christopher Ian and Chris Hollis have taken introductory lessons and are in the middle of making up their minds.  They are all nice people, and the club is lucky to have this level of interest so early in the season.

Saturday was cold.  We started the reassembly of the 2-33, working until we froze, essentially. Matt and Paul pitched right in, but had to leave before flying started late in the day.  The sun came out, finally, and Thomas was able to do some instruction in the Blanik just before sunset.

Sunday also started late, but we were able to get all the new guys in the air for a nice introduction to soaring.  Pete and Tim began their flight test prep.  The best altitude achieved was 7100 feet.

As the sun got low, the temperature dropped again.  The cookout took place indoors.

At the beginning of the season, there is a lot of demand for instruction. With only one 2-seater available so far, we really need to get organized.  We all have to cooperate on the ground to minimize turnaround time, and we need to start showing up early, even on crummy weather days.

See you next Saturday at 10am.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear the season is off to a good start. I am currently a mentor in the Mentoring Project. One member is a former Post Mills soaring member and posed the question yesterday-"would the kids in this program be able to come to the field for glider rides someday at no cost?"
I told him I'd ask, but thought students would go first and it would be a wait and see how the day goes situation, but I'd ask. Please talk it over at your next meeting-any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Diane