Weekend report June 21 - 22

Another terrific weekend for the club!

We expanded our operational footprint to three airports in two states, accomplished some good flight instruction, welcomed back an old member, and racked up over 3000 OLC kilometers.

Saturday started out with a quick trip in the Cub to Springfield by Kevin and Rick to help Dennis assemble his glider. When we left him, he was still looking for a towpilot. Fortunately, he found one later in the day and had a short practice flight. Afterwards, he was able to hangar the glider in preparation for further flying on Sunday.

Back at Post Mills, the conditions were good enough to get up and get away for one long (T8) and several medium sized (ZP, BA, EA, JS, S1, RU, PM) cross-country flights.

Two of those flights did not quite make it back to Post Mills. Greg and his guest Mike flogged the Blanik up to Franconia and landed at Dean on the way home. Andy Lawrence must have decided they needed company, and he landed there, too. In an uncharacteristic display of efficiency, the club leapt into action and executed two simultaneous retrieves, getting everyone home in time for the cookout (it didn't hurt that this was the longest day of the year).

The cookout was well attended:

Andy, Andy, Bill, Dan, Ella, Evan, Karl, Keith, Greg, Mary, Mike, Mike, Moshe, Paul, Peter, Petey, Rich, Rick, Sue, Sue, and Sue

and the only complaint was that we ran out of food again. Perhaps we should be better organized, who knows?

The flying on Sunday was even better. Iron Man (T8) was the first to take off, and the last to land. In seven and a half hours, Evan flew 600 kilometers, which is an all-time distance record for flights out of our humble airfield. Congratulations, Evan!

A 600 kilometer bow tie

Moshe (RU) took a 300 km trip that included the far side of the Green Mountains, an area gliders don't normally visit. Thomas (ZP), Greg (JD) and Dan (EA) chased each other around a quadrilateral with vertices at Mount Hunger, Burke Mountain, Mount Washington, and Post Mills.

Sonny (LT) flew our stock 100 km FAI Triangle (Post Mills, Harvey's Lake, Dean) and was happy to get home after a low save over Mallory Farm, a place with which he is familiar.

Skip (JS), who took off exactly 3 hours after Evan, flew a somewhat smaller bow tie course which included a low save at Dean. Andy (PM), and Doug (PM) combined to put another 200 km on the 304's odometer.

The local guys had a good time too. Henry explored the area in 3J for 2 hours. Dakai made his first flight as sole manipulator of the controls and kept the 2-33 in the air for an hour. Karl flew the Blanik three times, including an introductory ride for Matt Hausler, and an end-of-day flight with Lane that went to 7300 feet. Tim and Christina went for a short flight and took that great picture of Lake Morey and the river.

We were very happy to see Carl Hausler on the field again after a long absence. Although he didn't actually get in the air this weekend, he has told us that he wants to become active again. Welcome back, Carl!

The weekend ended the way it began, with a trip to Springfield (this time in the Champ) to see Dennis (DC), who had another nice flight in the Ventus.

That's it.  A very successful weekend with lots of happy pilots. Thanks to Doug and Andy for towing, and to Bill for instructing both days.

Weekend report May 17 - 19

Update: lots more detail in the Comments!

All I know is what I read on the OLC page. It appears that Greg (JD), Tim (PM), and Moshe (RU) had good flights on Friday, with a total of 569 kilometers.  All three of them went up to Morrisville and back.

On Saturday, Skip (JS), Greg (JD), Thomas (ZP) and Moshe (RU) combined for 1051 kilometers with flights to the White Mountains by various routes.  Thomas might have had a state record, if only he had declared it.

One of these days we should choose a Task at the beginning of the day and fly together!

Weekend report June 16 - 17

On Saturday two unexpected things happened. We had cumulus clouds and Lane showed up. In case you haven't been flying with us for 20 years, Lane Cobb was the first person to join the club after it was founded in 1988. He was quite active until 2005 when he took a short break from flying that lasted till this weekend. It's great to have him back.

In addition to being a superb pilot, Lane is an excellent source of flying stories. We reviewed some of them at the cookout Saturday night. If you haven't heard the one about his final glide into Post Mills in the 1-23, or the one about holding his breath at 18000 feet in the 1-26, or hopping over the road in the 2-33, or re-installing his instrument panel in mid-flight, or being infested with bird lice, be sure to ask him.

The first three people to arrive at the field were towpilots. Not sure what that's about. Evan found a detached spring in the L19 exhaust system, fixed it, and towed all day, including a long cross-country tow at the end of the day when he could have been drinking beer. Thanks, Evan!

The best round-trip flight of the day was turned in by Moshe (RU), who took a 225 km tour of Vermont. He crossed over to the Green Mountains at Stockbridge, went north almost to Morrisville, then home. He made his last climb at Spruce Mountain where he elected not to divert over to New Hampshire to join Paul. That turned out to be a good call. Here's a picture he took somewhere over Hancock.

Paul (S1) set out on an ambitious trip with turnpoints in northern Vermont and at Mount Washington. Things were going well until he flew into a stable airmass at Whitefield and plummeted to the ground, thereby demonstrating the wisdom of the old adage, "If you find yourself flying over the cumulus clouds, it's best to turn around."

Paul's cell phone battery had just enough juice in it to make two calls, one to Marsha to let her know that he'd be late for dinner, and the one that got to Evan in time to organize an aeroretrieve.

Tim (PM) had a nice two hour flight early in the day, but it wasn't recorded properly for some reason. After a quick turnaround on the ground, Andy (PM) took off and flew up to Mount Moosilauke, a 109 km flight that included an escape from Dean.

The Schleicher team of Skip (JS) and Thomas (ZP) weren't able to come to the cookout, so we didn't get to hear their stories. Skip flew 81 km. As Thomas was landing, he did a good job of keeping his eye on the towplane taking off in the opposite direction. It wasn't close, but we should all be more alert for this situation on no-wind days.

For the third day in a row, local flying was more difficult than cross-country flying. The thermals were widely spaced, and if you found yourself between two of them without the option of pressing on straight ahead, then you probably were faced with a short flight. The successful local pilots were the ones who found a lucky thermal and loitered at the top. These included Greg (3J, new type), Tim (PI), and Dennis (67, PI). Lane and Rick tried to leap between two thermals in the 2-33, and paid the price.

All in all, a good day at the airport. The happiest moment was when Rick found his wallet on the runway after it had fallen out of the 2-33.

The cookout started right on time, which was before Paul and Evan returned home, and before Moshe was finished preserving a few yards of gap tape. Eventually, the party included

Andrew, Andy, Christopher, Dennis, Ella, Evan, Gordon, Jane, Judy, Keith, Lane, Marsha, Mary, Mike, Moshe, Nancy, Paul, Peter, Petey, Rick, Sherry, and Sue.

Thanks go to Mary for her cooking and organizing and to all the contributors. Special mention to Dennis, who elevated the PMSC cookout experience by bringing a platter of shrimp!

The airmass was getting a little stale by Sunday, our fourth flying day in a row. But it was another fine day to be outdoors in a beautiful setting, never mind the haze. Eleven club members turned up, and eight of them flew. It was a good old fashioned local soaring day, with all the racing gliders remaining in their boxes. The best two hours of the day were between 2pm and 4pm, and Greg (3J) and Nancy (PI) took full advantage. The rest of us sat around in the screenhouse and watched the next generation of glider pilots (Sawyer and Andrew) fly a really weird RC glider that seemed to be immune to damage.

The day ended on a high note when Bill Swartz gave his Dad a ride in the Blanik.

Happy Father's Day!

Weekend report June 18 - 19

Our string of unflyable days ended with the passage of a weak cold front Friday evening.

It was still drizzly and foggy Saturday morning and we almost called the day off after breakfast. That would have been disappointing for our towpilot, Bob, who drove all the way down from St. Johnsbury (Thanks, Bob). The day turned out to be surprisingly good, with weak lift under every single cloud. The bases were low, however, and you had to spend most of your time circling. Tim and Steve (both in PM) earned some OLC points in the local area. Mike S and Sam both had good flights in the 2-33. Sam impressed his instructor with how little his year-long layoff has affected his stick-and-rudder skills.

In the afternoon, the sky to the northwest turned black, and we started to hear thunder. Everyone landed, and we hustled to put everything away. We were running for cover by 4:30 pm. This allowed an early start to the cookout, which was well supplied and enjoyable, as usual.

Sunday was the kind of day we dream about. The lift started early and cloudbase eventually reached 6500 feet. Almost everyone had a long flight. Mike S kept the 2-33 in the air for 1.7 hours, and got to 6300 feet, both personal records. He flew with Tim (PM) for a while, on Tim's jaunt to the northwest, a flight that was not recorded, alas. Tom (TH) got stuck at low altitude over West Fairlee and was forced to creep home early. Skip (JS) headed for the White Mountains but was unable to get past Mount Lafayette, where he turned around, completing a nice 121 km flight. The best flight of the day was made either by Evan (T8) or Thomas (ZP). They both were gone for over five hours, but only one of them turned in a flight log.

Andy towed all day and finally got to do a ride flight in the 2-33 at the end of the day (Thanks, Andy).

Good flying, mediocre reporting

PMSC operations in Vermont got off to a great start today, according to my source (whose identity is withheld to protect his reputation as a reporter).

Steve, Evan, Thomas, Skip, Rich, Andy, Tom, Christopher, Bill, Skip and Lane (yes, that Lane) put on an old fashioned flying show at Post Mills, while the southern auxilliary squadron (Sonny, Doug, Paul K) chose to fly at Springfield.

That's all I know since my source neglected to say anything about the weather, the runway conditions, the nature and strength of the thermals, the number of flights, or where the gliders went.

My source did send me this picture, and I gather from it that there weren't many cumulus clouds today:


(This photo almost qualifies as a "Name that sailplane" blog entry, but I'll give it away by telling you it's an ASW-24).

The quality of the reporting is forecast to improve.

Weekend report July 31 - August 1

We had excellent flying both days this weekend. On Saturday, Evan's 347 km flight was eclipsed by Alexander's first solo, a two-hour flight in the 2-33:




Sonny attempted a 5-hour flight in KX, but fell short by 20 minutes. Tim (PM) flew to Barnard, Stowe, and return for 227 km. Kevin (6Q) raced around his 100 km speed triangle, but failed to break his own state speed record. Thomas (ZP) also made a nice cross-country flight, but, as usual, refused to submit his flight log.

Although Sunday was reported as a little bit trickier, Evan managed to go two more kilometers (349) in T8, on a trip to Belvidere mine, Sugarbush and Franconia. Skip (JS) and Kevin (6Q) got late starts, but were able to add 62 and 70 km to the club total, respectively.

Meanwhile, back at Post Mills, Jason, Chris, Alexander, and Paul K flew with each other in the 2-33. Tim's contribution was to break the brake in the Blanik.

Name that Citizen Club Member

Half a dozen slackers

It was a nice day today, with cloudbases reaching almost 7000 feet before it was over.

Tony (7H) took off first and flew to Cabot, then over to Dean, then...nowhere. It was another one of those missed photo opportunities. If his crew had remembered to bring a camera, we would have had another picture of a glider on the ground with a fantastic looking sky as the backdrop.

Despite his landout, Tony beat Tim (PM) on the OLC by a couple of kilometers. Tim did a double out-and-return to Cookeville and Mount Moosilauke.

Tom (TH) and Matt (89) flew locally, and Evan (T8) limped home after almost landing out at Twin Mountain (288 km, not bad).

Thomas (ZP) had a nice flight (as usual), made a textbook approach and landing (as usual), and, as usual, refused to publish his flight log. What a spoilsport.

Meanwhile, Christopher made a fuel run, endured a fuel transfer, ran wings, and generally helped out on the ground (Thanks, Christopher!)

Weekend report June 18 - 20

Well, it wasn't an official long weekend, but the Slackers made it into one.

On Friday we divided our forces and flew at Sugarbush and Post Mills. It was the first time in memory that PMSC members talked to each other in the air while flying from two different places. Tim (PM), Evan (T8), Matt (89), and Kevin (6Q) took off at Post Mills and enjoyed some nice flights in variable conditions. Evan made it to Mount Washington and announced that he expected trouble getting back. His crew didn't get too excited, and sure enough, Evan got home in time to do some towing.

Meanwhile, Tom (TH), Rick (S2), Thomas (ZP), and Tony (7H) got three tows for the price of four at Sugarbush. We ran up and down the Mad River valley, which seems to be the thing you do there.

On Saturday, back at Post Mills, we found the summerlike conditions were sufficient for local flying and lessons, but not quite good enough to go anywhere. Evan and Bill (3J) gave it a shot but elected to stay local. Our new students - Chris, Paul K, Alexander - got two flights each and all made good progress. All 14 flights were made possible by our new towpilot, Kent (Thanks, Kent).

Saturday ended with a great cookout, attended by

Andrew, Andy, Anne, Bill, Creighton, Dirk, Ella, Elinor, Evan, Gretta, Ian, Jill, Jill, Judy, Kent, Kevin, Marsha, Mary, Mike, Nathan, Olivia, Paul, Paul, Peter, Petey, Sonny, Sue, Sue, Thomas, Tom, Rich, Rick

and the food and beverage providers deserve special emphasis.

The three-day warming trend continued through Sunday. We made seven flights on a pleasant but windy day. Thanks to Thomas and Doug for instructing and towing.

Weekend Report August 8 - 9

Saturday was an eventful day. Bill (3J) made the news with his routine field landing in Hartland. The newspaper story got some of the facts right and all of the nomenclature wrong, as usual.

The weather on Saturday was pretty good, with variable conditions and a light northerly breeze. We put flight recorders in six gliders (7H, 89, PM, S1, S2, T8), with Jason making his first OLC flight in the Blanik. Evan took the prize with a 320km trip to Mount Washington, Caledonia, and Lebanon. Zippy and Bill did not submit flight logs, and we have not heard if Moshe flew on Saturday.

Conditions to the south were weak, especially in the river valley. This is probably what got Bill. S2 made it to Springfield, but would not have made it out of there without the on-air help of friends Ira (A1) and Bob (JS1) from GBSC and NESA, respectively. Ira flew over Post Mills twice, but landed out on the way home to Sterling.

By all accounts, the beans, chicken, and band music (in that order) at the Post Mills church were enjoyed by all who attended.

On Sunday, the weather was barely good enough for some spot landing practice in the Blanik. Matt was able to log his 20th solo flight before the rain started.

Thanks to Doug and Bob for towing. Andy is on vacation, and his absence was noted.

Weekend Report July 11 - 12

On Saturday we decided that the combination of Christopher's three short flights and a surprise visit from our curmudgeon-in-chief, Bill Kolb, justified a party. While the grill was warming up, Evan practiced takeoffs and landings in an outstandingly beautiful classic airplane, and the peanut gallery at the end of Runway 23 rated his performance. Despite somewhat gusty conditions, he scored well.

The cold front swept through Saturday night, and Sunday was a much nicer day. Tony, Bill, Thomas, Tim, Nancy, Jason, and Steve all had good soaring flights. Cloudbase was around 5000 feet at Post Mills, and over 7000 feet over Mount Washington, where Tony (7H) made his turn at about 1:40pm. That was when the shadows moved in and the lift quit. Tony glided all the way from the summit to a landing at Franconia.

Meanwhile, Thomas (ZP), having made it to Twin Mountain airport, was trying to sneak back to Post Mills under the overcast. He had barely enough altitude to make it home from Black Mountain, but decided not to chance it. While Tony was landing at Franconia, Thomas flopped onto the ground at Dean Memorial.

With two landouts, we needed two crews. In fact we had three. Doug took the towplane to Franconia to get Tony, and Christopher headed to Dean with Thomas's trailer. By sheer coincidence, Andy and Bill were out flying in a fairly nice old airplane and happened to spot both gliders on the ground. They landed at Franconia in time for Andy to run 7H's wing, and landed at Dean in time to help maneuver ZP into the trailer. Now that's service!

Franconia Encampment July 1 - 6

This year's 4th of July Franconia encampment was as hectic as ever. We had a great time, despite some wet weather. I counted 42 participants, including spouses, parents, kids, and dogs. We brought eight gliders, ten trailers, six bicycles and one towplane to the Franconia airport. The expedition actually began on the previous Sunday when Andy and his crew put 3J on the trailer after flying at Post Mills. In the early part of the week Rick, Mary, and Charlie transported PM, S2, the golf cart and the fuel tank. WEDNESDAY We cancelled our original plan to aerotow the Blanik on Thursday, due to the uncertain forecast. Instead, Kevin and Matt wrestled the glider onto its trailer on Wednesday and Andy and Andrew delivered the L-19 that afternoon. Rick towed the trailer to Franconia and brought Andy and Andrew home. THURSDAY Tim showed up with the 1-23 and we assembled it and the Blanik. A few of us checked into the Westwind and met the new owners. They have a new approach to keeping the bears out of the dumpster. The Ludemans arrived at the Horse and Hound. I don't actually remember if anybody flew on Thursday. We don't have a logsheet for that day, so if you did fly, please let Sonny know. Judy and Andy organized a takeout Thai dinner, the first of three consecutive fine dining experiences at Arethusa. FRIDAY The weather on Friday was pretty good, right up until the end of the day. The wind was southerly, so the ridge wasn't much help. The thermals were reliable in the sunny areas, but we were overrun by cloud shadows several times throughout the day. Andy towed and instructed, and several members got their introduction to mountain flying. There was only one landout. In the late afternoon the sky to the west turned very dark, and we rushed to get everything put away before the rains came. We were not very successful, and Paul got the wettest. We dried ourselves out and reconvened for a spaghetti dinner at the LumRuss compound. It rained for much of the night. SATURDAY Saturday, the actual 4th of July, dawned drizzly and foggy, so we didn't rush out to the airport. A few of us, having failed to get into Polly's Pancake Parlor, had a leisurely breakfast at Wendle's Café in downtown Franconia. At the first sign of blue sky, we dashed to the airport and stood around, waiting for the ceiling to go up a bit.

Finally, Jason, Christopher, and Rick took off but were quickly flushed out of the sky by another rain shower. We stood down for a few hours until the sky cleared again. During the break, Skip, Sonny, Mike, Sue, Mary, Diane, Tony, Carol, Paul D, Ellie, and Maia all showed up to visit. At the end of the day, we were able to squeeze in a couple of more flights before getting rained out again. Andy and Tim got on the ground just before the downpour: After the landing, Andy decided to stay dry by remaining in the cockpit while the glider was towed back to its tiedown. I guess you can do that if you're the club President. Fortunately, the rain stopped in time for the annual Saturday cookout. As usual, it was quite a feast, and this year it was almost entirely the work of one person, Judy. This was at her request, and her reasons are completely beyond this reporter. SUNDAY This was the day we deserved. It started a bit late, but once the sky cleared, we were able to enjoy ridge, thermal, and wave conditions until late in the afternoon. It was the first day of the encampment that we didn't get wet. We made 17 flights, with Bob and Andy sharing the towing. Thomas (ZP), having recently received the Babs Nutt Award for the highest flight of 2008, put in his claim for this year's award by soaring to 10000 feet in a thermal wave. Paul (S1) and Evan (T8) racked up a bunch of miles on "local cross-country" flights that featured some nice cloudstreet runs. Christopher, Tim, Pete, and Jason chased each other on both the Cannon and Lafayette ridges, missing a bunch of great photo opportunities. We'll bring more cameras next year. Paul, Skip, and Thomas trailered home Sunday evening, and Charlie fetched the golf cart back to Post Mills. Most of the rest also went home, despite the promising forecast for Monday. A few stragglers remained. MONDAY The stragglers were rewarded with some good thermal soaring on Monday, a day on which the ridge was dead again. Tony had the best flight, with 3.5 hours in PM. After landing, Tony hopped in the Blanik for an aerotow back to Post Mills, hitched a ride in a Champ back to Franconia to pick up his car and the 304, delivered the glider back here, and made it home in time for dinner. Charlie made yet another round trip to pick up the fuel tank. On Tuesday, Tim and Rick retrieved the last two trailers, and that was it. Another Franconia adventure in the PMSC record books. Thanks to everyone for all the volunteer labor.

Weekend Report May 23 - 25

There are several candidates for the highlight of the weekend. The contenders are the first glider solo by Bill Swartz, the first glider flight of the season by Andy Lumley, and the Saturday cookout. There are other runners-up as well.

On Saturday we had another of those grey training days - a lot of takeoff and landing drills and not much soaring. Bob D showed up early to tow, and we completed Tim's preparation for his flight test. 

Along the way, Bill took the Blanik up by himself. He made a nice flight and reported that it was surprisingly easy without all the distractions coming from the back seat. (Click to enlarge the photo by Paul D., who has challenged Pete for the position of club photograper. More of Paul's photos here.)

The Saturday evening cookout was popular and featured a surplus of food and drink. Thanks to everyone who contributed. The under-12 set was well represented by Jane, Ellenor, Ella, Christina, Ellie, Olivia, Andrew, Nathan,  Gretta, and Maia.

PMSC - The Next Generation

The best and worst weather of the weekend both occurred on Sunday. It rained in the morning and stayed overcast until around 2pm. When the sun came out, Skip (JS), Thomas (ZP) and Andy (PM) were ready. This was Andy's first solo glider flight since last October, and we can't even remember the one before that. If you think that being Club President, Chief Tuggie, Chief Mechanic, Chief Information Officer, and Family Guy leaves plenty of time for flying, think again. We should all look for opportunities to help Andy go flying.

The last day of the weekend, Monday, was difficult.  We assembled early and stood around for a couple of hours waiting for the crosswind to abate.  Finally, Tom (Blanik), Skip (JS), Thomas (ZP), Doug (3J), Steve (3J), and Tim (Blanik) went flying.  The lift was good, but it was a struggle not to get blown away.

Some of the survivors of the Saturday cookout returned on Monday and were joined by a few who weren't able to make it on Saturday.  The leftovers were augmented and dispatched.  There were fewer kids this time.  It was a school night.

Weekend Report October 11 - 13

Most of the action was at Gorham this weekend. Thomas (ZP) had wave flights on Saturday and Sunday totaling about 5 hours. He hasn't yet emailed or posted his flight logs. Tim (PM) also flew both days, but had flight recorder problems. Most of his flight on Sunday was recorded before the battery died. Tim made the most of his day with climbs in ridge, thermal, and wave lift, taking a side trip to Whitefield before returning to the Mount Washington wave. Skip (JS) also had a good flight on Saturday. He set a new personal solo altititude record of 12,258 feet, documented in one of the zillion photos he took that day.

Meanwhile, back at Post Mills, Jon suffered through simulated emergencies all day in the Blanik, and Gregg flew the 1-26, just to prove he could still do it. On Sunday, we discovered the reddest tree in Vermont. The picture can hardly do it justice. It's still there. The best way to see it is by Cub.

And, just to round out our presence in northern New England, Moshe (KG) reported a 3.5 hour wave/thermal flight at Morrisville on Saturday. He got to 7,900 feet.

Franconia Encampment July 3 - 7

You can tell how much we were looking forward to our Franconia encampment this year by the level of activity during the week leading up to the 4th of July weekend. Charlie and Rick dragged the 1-23 and the Silent to Franconia Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, Pete showed up at Post Mills to help pack up and work on trailers. Andy and Rich aerotowed the Blanik on Thursday afternoon, and Tim towed the golf cart. We were completely ready to fly on Friday morning, and a good thing, too. We had three perfect weather days, and we used them all.

FRIDAY FLYING
Rick was the first to launch in the Silent, humbly accepting an aerotow from Bob D. John Good followed and the two had an interesting struggle together on the lower slopes of Cannon Mountain. Eventually the day heated up, and John was able to complete a grand tour of Northern New Hampshire and Vermont (Colebrook, Newport, Jay Peak, Mansfield, Moosilauke) in the Discus 2. Respectable XC performances were also turned in by T8, who visited Post Mills, and ZP, who wasn't carrying a flight recorder. Thomas also wasn't carrying a checklist to remind him to retract the undercarriage following release. I think that everyone who spotted him in the air that day mentioned it to him that evening.

Back home, local flights were enjoyed by Skip (JS), Andy (PM), Mike (PM), Paul (S1), and Tim (PM), all of whom had flight recorders. For some reason, none of the Blanik, 1-23, 1-35, or Silent pilots seemed to care about recording their flights. We made 23 flights in all.

FRIDAY NIGHT
The annual cookout-meeting at Arethusa started shortly after flying and lasted till the wee hours. The culinary volunteers, led by Judy, outdid themselves once again. The performance of her husband the grillmeister was slightly above average once again as well. There were 40 celebrants, including Herb Weiss and Jim David from the Franconia club.

Tony called a club meeting to order around 8pm. The only agenda item was the presentation of our annual awards. The Most Enthusiastic New Member of 2007 was Jason Cohen, whose parents were there to congratulate him. The Babs Nutt award, given for the highest altitude achieved in the previous year, went to Steve Voigt, who made it to 25574 feet on October 21.

And while the David Shapiro Trophy is not a club award, we were happy to present it to Evan Ludeman, the 2008 New England Gliding Champion. The trophy also makes a good mount for a 4th of July sparkler.


SATURDAY FLYING
On Saturday, Paul, Evan, Tim, Skip, and Rich were able to prove where they went on a day that was consistently good. You can see Mount Washington in the photo on the left (click to enlarge). It is hard to complain about lift of 5 knots to 7300 feet. A few of us made the pylon turn around the MW Observatory, and Tony did it for the first time. We don't know where Thomas went, but from all accounts, he had his wheel retracted during the flight. Sonny proved that he has what it takes to get his Silver Duration leg by flying for 4 hours and 58 minutes in KX. Tom, Jason, and Pete had nice flights in 3J, with Tom demonstrating that you don't really need a 3000 foot tow at Franconia.

I wish I could say that we were just as careful on the ground as we were flying. We managed to poke a hole in the screen house with a wingtip, and we gave a scare to a FSA pilot by deciding to launch while their 2-33 was in the pattern.

The Saturday night cookout was an informal reprise of the night before. Mary emptied out her refrigerator, and leftovers were collected by all hands. The party was at Arethusa, of course, and someone calculated that Judy and Andy presided over about 80 meals during the course of the weekend.

There was a debate about whether to attend the fireworks at the Mount Washington Hotel, as tradition would dictate, or to roll down the hill to the newly-established and much more convenient display in downtown Franconia. In the end it turned out that the Hotel fireworks were not actually at the Hotel, and the Franconia show was at least as good. We may have established a new tradition.

SUNDAY FLYING
Overall, Sunday's weather was excellent, but the soaring conditions were inconsistent. I saw 7 knots on the averager once, and Skip reported 10 (I think he was hypoxic at the time). There were also significant quiet periods, when you were happy to be climbing at all. Tim, Rich, Steve, and Evan all earned OLC points, but Rick did not. Jason soloed the Blanik (twice). The usual suspects flew 3J for a total of about 5 hours, which is a pretty good accomplishment in a shared glider. Thomas made a 4-hour XC flight, still without a flight recorder. It was nice to see Andy Lawrence getting back into flying shape on a 1.5 hour flight with John Good in the Blanik. It was also nice to say hello to a strangely familar looking fellow named Lane.

Tony tried to repeat his summiting of Mount Washington, but wound up landing at Twin Mountain airport. His aeroretrieve was so efficiently performed that he hardly missed any flying that day.

Flying lasted until fairly late, which meant that packing up required a lot of volunteer effort. Thanks to Charlie, Tim, and Andy Lawrence for doing the ground hauling, and to Rich and the other Andy for air hauling the Blanik back to Post Mills.

MONDAY
A pleasantly warm summer day, perfect for picnicking, but lousy for soaring. Our timing this year was perfect. We retrieved the last two trailers, and Thomas went out and bought a flight recorder, in plenty of time for next year's encampment.

SUMMARY
We made 61 flights in 11 gliders. Our total time in the air must have been about 100 hours. The L-19 climbed something like 150000 feet hauling us up, with most of the tows provided by one guy (Thanks, Bob!) We were able to give rides to family members Elizabeth, Sam, Jeff, Renee, Zack, and Kelly. We had a first-solo-in-type, a first summiter, and enough OLC points to allow us to pass NESA in the standings. We renewed our relationship with FSA. The instructor got to fly (Thanks, Andy and John!) We had outstanding parties (Thanks, non-pilots!), and we were even considerate of the wildlife.


I can't wait till next year!

Airspeed calibration...

Although there was no flying on this wild Sunday afternoon, some of us started fine tuning our instruments in order to be ready to collect more OLC points. With the help of Rick's scientific setup, quite many feet of instrument tubing, and a little bit of water, we concluded that ZP's airspeed indicator reads 56kts for a dynamic pressure of about 2'' of water, and 96kts for a 6'' water column. It turns out that this is amazingly accurate. The theoretical values are 55.447 and 96.037kts for 2 and 6 inches of water!! ZP certainly won't need a new airspeed indicator....

Weekend Report May 24 - 26

One of the least welcome scenarios for a gliding club is to discover a mechanical problem with the towplane at the beginning of a long weekend. Imagine my surprise when I found the battery dead during the preflight inspection Saturday morning. Apparently, sometime after Doug parked the towplane at the end of last weekend, some vandal snuck in and left the master switch on. Luckily, there was plenty of time to fix the problem, since Kevin had arranged for an early tow.

After our slow start, we had a pretty good day. It was a bit breezy, so the guys with the new gliders decided to postpone their first flights for 24 hours. The lift was good in places, but it was difficult to relate the climbs to the clouds, which tended to hang around long after the thermal had expired. It was a fine day for local flying, checkrides, and wind practice. Andy G, Tim, Kevin, Skip and Jon all had good flights in the Blanik, and Evan zoomed around locally in T8. Tim is now a 1-23 pilot, and he made two perfect landings in 3J.

Sunday was the kind of day you think about all winter. Blue conditions, infinite visibility, and great lift. On one flight, Jon and I identified Jay Peak, Mount Monadnock, and the Adirondacks, which means we were seeing the entire state of Vermont from our perch at 7000 feet. Seven private gliders flew (KX, 7H, ZP, JS, KG, T8, S1), three of them for the first time in the hands of their happy new owners. Sonny made his first 5-hour attempt (better luck next time, Sonny), and Paul and Evan flew for OLC credit. Paul reported climbing over a snowfield on top of Moosilauke, and Evan managed to avoid landing at Franconia (twice) and Morrisville, but not Montpelier. Check out his decision to turn around at Knox Mountain. Good call.

Donn, Nancy, and Tom worked hard all day on the ground and waited patiently for their turns to fly. During Andy's one break from towing, he brushed dope on the 2-33 fuselage. It's beginning to look like a glider again. Andy G and Rich showed up for checkrides, but we weren't able to squeeze them in. Sorry, guys.

Twenty-one people attended the cookout, perhaps a record. There was plenty of food, and thanks again to all the contributors. This is well appreciated, in light of this article, whose title I find appropriate.

We had just three flights on Monday. Jon, Tom and Tim were able to get in the air before the rain moved in. Skip, Tony, and Zippy showed up to fettle their new sailplanes. We had to cut short the work on the 2-33 when a highly educated medical professional gliding student, who shall remain unidentified, managed to lock the keys inside Andy's car.

I hope that the pilots of new gliders will write about their first flight experiences.

ZP

A club member named Peter (you'll have to guess which one) spotted a glider trailer in the Centerra parking lot today, Contest ID Zulu Papa. I guess Thomas has plans to fly his new glider this weekend.