New Castle Contest

For those of you who may be interested you can view the link below to see how the Region 4 South contest went:

http://www.ssa.org/members/contestreports/ContestResultsDetail.asp?id=357

Mike

Standard Cirrus maiden flight

Yves Nollet and I made our first flights today in our brand new 36 year old Standard Cirrus and wow! What a great ship. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen...our instructors, tow pilots, and fellow glider pilots. And don't forget our wives, Terry and Elaine. As great as soaring is, the people invloved make it even better. We'll see you up there.

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 ;-)

Sunday, April 25th

Mike found wave by climbing in weak thermals to around 6000 MSL. From there the wave kicked in and he got to 8200 MSL but it wasn't easy. Mike showed a GPS wind of 25/33kt. The wave seemed to start 7 or so miles east of the airport.

Saturday, April 25th

Summer is here!!! Well it least it felt like it with temperature flirting with 90 degress. Day started our with the hanger cleanup organized by Cindy Benson. Soaring operations began around noon with some intructional flights. Many people had flights over an hour with altitude gains to 6,500'. Thermals were strong, but difficult to find with no visible markers. Doug had a busy day with 15 tows and everyone missed Tony.

Sunday, April 19th

Stronger winds and cooler temperatures than forecast didn't keep SSA members away from 5B2. Fred started things out with a short sniffer flight in the 1-26 with an approach that allowed him to closely exam the spring foilage. Doug and OB followed with a training flight that allowed Cindy to utilze the newly installed Pawnee mirrors. Jim M. and Mike followed close behind with flights that lasted over an hour.

Saturday, April 18th

Great training day at 5B2. Cindy got checked out in Jim's PW5. Darrin, who's also working on his ASEL private pilot certificate, came out for the first time this season. He got in three flights in the Grob, before some light showers moved in from the west.

Easter Sunday

Yesterday gave us some great spring soaring conditions. Mike and Lori flew the Grob, Yves flew the 1-26, and I was lucky enough to bumble into some wave in the Grob and got to 9200', climbing up the side of a cloud. I only wish I'd had a camera with me to take a shot looking out over the tops of the clouds!

Saturday, March 28th

Another beautiful spring day with strong lift up to 4,200'! Harry (O.B.) O'Brien, our newest member, took 2 instructional flights with Mike. Rick and Yves both had long flights in the 1-26. Laurie and Bob each had flights in the Grob that lasted over an hour. Tony, after cleaning up EX, decided to take a short flight in the Grob.

Spring Soaring

What a day! All club gliders assembled and test flown. Marvelous spring weather and good lift besides. We did 19 tows and all the tow pilots and instructors became current. 4 and 5 knot lift with frisky spring thermals. Besides the instructors Yves, Bob, Tony, and Donna got flights in as well. With any luck tomorrow should be just as good.

Mike