Excellent Day

Some pictures from Saturday --

Saturday, July 25th

Fog disappeared mid morning, revealing a low scattered layer. A stable atmosphere didn't result in that great a day for soaring, but we were visited by several new faces and a familiar face from the past. Tim Devine, EAA Chapter 602 member, stopped by to observe the operation. Dusty Grant and his father, Dan, came down from Lake Placid, took introductory rides and left the airport with "perma-grins". Mark Hyland also took an introductory ride. Regina Doi took an introductory flight and seems very excited about the sport. After 18 years, Donna was finally able to convince her sister, Gail, to take a flight, which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Roy Busse stopped by and after 3 flights with Jim Morzillo is once again current. Many stayed and enjoyed a cold beverage after the long and enjoyable day.

July 17 and 18: many of "the regulars" were away, but those of us who were around enjoyed two consecutive weekend days without rain. Bradley was able to squeeze an instructional flight into his base manager duties on Sunday -- his progress this season is impressive.

June 6th

Today was another very nice day of soaring. The sky was a beautiful blue and filled with cumies. I flew the Grob for 2 hours, launching and soaring before Noon. Donna and Tony(?) also flew the Grob. Mike and Lori each flew their ship. Doug, Bob, and Jim M. flew their own ships as well. I think that Jim M. probably had the long flight of the day, since he was still up when I left. Cloudbase was at 4,500' msl early, but appeared to rise to over 6,000' msl by the end of the day.

Saturday, May 30th

One of the earliest operational starts on record for the club! At approximately 8 AM, Cindy towed Jim Morzillo, flying the 1-26, to GFL to participate in a fly-in breakfast. This served as advertisement for the club and the sport of soaring. The 1-26 and Pawnee generated much interest and at least one person is going to call Jim Morzillo to arrange for an introductory ride.

Jim Morzillo, following a “light breakfast”, then towed the 1-26, piloted by Fred Woll, back to 5B2. They arrived around 10:15 AM to find the SSA wash and wax in full gear. Thanks to Tony for organizing this event and all that participated in the wash and wax – the fleet looks great!!!

We then started normal flight operations. The strong and varying winds made for some interesting takeoffs and landings, but many people found it to be an excellent soaring day. Bob, in 2LE, and Doug, in AW, led the day in length of flight and altitude gains. Rick also did an outstanding job in the 1-26.

Monday, May 25th

In the words of Jim Morzillo, "It doesn't get much better than this!" It was a beautiful Monday with comfortable temperatures and unlimited visibility. Jim Morzillo started the day with a couple of introductory rides for prospective members. Club and privately owned ships then started to launch in what proved to be an enjoyable afternoon of soaring. Bob flew 2LE for several hours with altitude gains in excess of 9,000'. Doug flew AW for the first time this season and had similiar success. Fred flew XX and almost beat the tow plane back, but thanks to a thermal on downwind was able to make a save and stay aloft for close to 2 hours. Many people were reporting wave conditions northeast of 5B2!

Monday, May 11th

The soaring forecast proved reliable today. Everyone that showed up for the weekday operation had a great flight. John C. led the accomplishments with a 5+ hour flight in the 1-26. Jim P. wasn't far behind with a 4+ hour flight in the ASW-19B, completing the triangle 4 times in the process. Lori M. flew MC and Jim M. and Cindy B. each had a flight in I1. Jim M. and Fred W. had a 1.5 BFR flight in the Grob and experienced thermals with cores of 8-10 knots and got close to cloud bases at 6,700'. Everyone could have stayed up longer, but were complaining of cold feet, small bladders, sore butts, etc. Even Cindy B. was seen thermaling the Pawnee after one of her tows ;-)