All flights 2021

 

Weekend report April 30 - May 1

There was good flying on both days of the weekend, but Sunday was better.

We welcomed new member David Schafer on Saturday, and he got two lessons in the Blanik, the second of which lasted over an hour.  Dennis (DC) finally got in the air for his first flight of the season, and Greg (JR) and Evan (T8) flew together on a 400 km zigzag flight that took them to both the White Mountains and the Green Mountains.

Sunday was the day we have all been waiting for.  Excellent lift in blue conditions.  It was very good in the high ground, and Greg (JR), Dan (EA), David (JD), Rick (LEL), and Kari (2C) all made it up to Mount Washington.  Moshe (RU) explored central Vermont, with turns at Montpelier and Lebanon, where he was happy not to land.

When David got back from the mountains, he made several O&R excursions and finally landed after everyone else had gone home.

This was David's first serious cross country flight, with a credited distance of 312 km.  He flew for over 7 hours, which may be a duration record for a flight out of Post Mills.

Back in Post Mills, Pete D (3BA) and Paul (S1) made local flights, and Sonny made the mistake of flying his airplane on an outstanding soaring day.

Thanks to Don and Andy for towing, and to Darrek for improving the 1-26 trailer.

Ridge winds

 On April 25, the wind forecast for two days later looked like this:

Recognizing that it doesn't get better than this, Evan dropped everything, planned an out-and-return record flight, and spent the next day driving to Eagle Field in Pennsylvania.

On April 27, he took an auto-pulley tow at 07:30 and proceeded northeast to his start/finish point at Lock Haven.  From there he flew about 400 miles to his turnaround point at Gate City, Virginia.  He then flew back to Lock Haven to complete the task.  He landed back at Eagle Field, after 11 hours in the air.

His total OLC distance was 1436 km, which was the longest flight in the world on that day.  The flight should qualify as a new National O&R Distance record.

Congratulations, Evan!

Opening Day

A lot happened on April 18, our first day of operations at Post Mills.

First of all, the weather was beautiful.

Andy and Don traveled up to Franklin County airport to pick up our freshly-painted towplane.  While they were gone, our new roller (donated by St. Johnsbury Academy = arranged by Andy L and Bob D) arrived on a really big boom truck.

At the end of the day we had two preseason checkrides and four current towpilots.

Region One Contest

Our friends at NESA have announced that they have applied for a sanction to organize the 2022 Region One contest at Springfield.

It will be in the Sports Class and "Bus" (2-seat trainer) classes, and the dates are July 2 - 9, 2022.

Check the contest webpage for more information.

All it takes to enter is a Silver Badge, and all it takes to become a volunteer is to volunteer.  It's a great learning experience if you haven't seen an official contest before.

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