A Very Special Flight

Below is a write up I did for the HGC on a very special flight I did out of Hollister last Sunday. Hope you can enjoy it. Sort of the magic moments that only soaring can offer that you can not plan, it just happens. And it happens only if your are there!!


http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-866464246


Didn't expect much for the day, but thought flying was better than Sunday football.

I had a dream come true today that I wouldn't have missed for anything, I'll get to it in a minute.

If you looked at the tie down area today you would have thought owning a motor glider is nothing but a lot of work and you wouldn't be to far of the mark, but when it is working and you can trust it, it opens the door to some special moments. I had three possible things I was thinkiing about doing, 1) go south and see if I can stay up, 2) motor west towards Salinas to checkout if Dr. Jack was right on some wave action in the Salinas Valley, and 3) do a cross country sawtooth flight across the central valley to Mariposa. Why Mariposa? It is the stepping stone Brian Choate used getting into the Sierras. I and others are pondering on how to get to Minden and get the Egg when things are right, Mariposa may be the gateway. Today wasn't the Day, but it is all new territory and thought getting a first look would be good practice.

Well I decided to go south towards Panoche, signed all the papers with Quest in case I landed there and off I went. Very smooth cool still air with a great climb rate, density altitude does mean thrust, a new concept for me in my first power plane/ motor glider. Engine off at 7k and the long glide to Panoche, few bumps but nothing to core, then on to near EL2 and bingo some lift I could climb in. Now comes the special moment, barely holding my own I was joined by two Condors, together we cored the lift and climbed over a thousand feet. What a special moment, circling, diving and bobbing climbing higher and higher. They topped out about 150 feet above me and headed out south. I took another couple of turns and spotted them in the distance for a while, then they were gone, and then I got lower and lower, lite the engine near Panoche to head towards Salinas Valley, I'll save Mariposa for another day. Did find some friendly air at times, but nothing to climb on, Then near Salinas I lite the engine one more time and explored the eastern edge of the range leading to Big Sur. Just peaceful smooth air and nothing to do accept savor the moments.

http://www.nps.gov/pinn/naturescience/condors.htm

I knew there were some Condors near Pinnacles and have hoped some day to fly with them, After having lousy week at work and having a second cousin die this year just last week, it did wonders for my head. They seem to accept me and didn't look disturbed by my presents. My ego says I found the thermal first and they joined me...... doesn't really matter...... it was just what I needed.

A good friend of mine who knows I was struggling some had this to say to me......

" Be good to you...find comfort in the life around you"

I'll try my best,

Buzz

Achievements

Congratulations to John Randazzo for achieving the requirements and completing the Basic Phase of the FAA Wings.

The goals of the updated FAA WINGS - proficiency program is to improve flying skills and make flying safer.

John will receive a Wings pin, now provided by Avemco.

Well done John!

Happy safe soaring to all,

-Monique

Another Nice Soaring Day at Byron

Thanks to Greg Fountain for the pictures.

Our Own Private Air Show

The Patriots gave us four private aerobatic displays this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, both before and after their Fleet Week show.

Here is a photo of Roy Moeller letting the Patriots fly by just before one of their departures yesterday.

Early Fall Soaring at Byron

Eric Yeargan flying the Blanik along a convergence line and thermalling along the big cumulus near Discovery Bay.

Nice Day at Byron

Chasing Dust Devils at Byron

Just received these photos from Roger, who celebrated his birthday in the air last Sunday. We chased dust devils and climbed in the local area to 4,900' for a pleasant early fall soaring day.

Monique

Great Wave Day in Truckee

8/31/08 was a great wave day at Truckee.
Winds aloft 250 at 35 knts

Only 2 gliders flew at Truckee that day (KP and JH). Winds on the ground were intimidating. A gust almost knocked me off my feet while waiting for ground crew. I would not have flown without an instructor and an experienced tow pilot (Thanks to Don for the tow).

Buzz and I towed to 9000' in KP and found wave about 11,200' over Northstar. The lift was between 1 to 5 knts and extended from south of Emerald Bay to north of Sierraville.
Spent the XC portion of the flight between 14,000' and 17,999'.

I cant fly this weekend because of work.
If you fly Truckee watch out for those Reno air racers.

Seth


Additional comments

It was one of the windiest nights I have ever spent in Truckee and one of the coldest for this time of year with temps in the low 20's. The first cold front from the Pacific northwest passed through and changed the normal summer weather patterns from unstable air with thermals to stable air with increasing winds aloft, all the right ingredients for good wave. Main problem was the rotor was reaching the ground and had operations shut down during the first part of the day. It was till around noon did the wind start to back off and come more down the runway on 19. Seth and I had just finished making a battery adaptor cable for KP and were checking it out in the plane when Don came by and said he thought it was OK to tow if we wanted to go. The forecast was near perfect for wave, there were no cloud marker to tell us where it might be found. A quick discussion with local experts gave us some idea where it might be and they were pretty much right. Tow was bumpy and Seth did a good job of staying in the correct tow position to minimize slack rope, low and to the inside of the turns. At around 7k Don found the upside of the rotor an indicated 17 knots up, in less than 2 turns in this area we gained 2k and released around 9k. Continued to climb to around 11.5k when we started our up wind search for the wave, we bumped along turning when we thought we could until around North Star we felt that smooth air, going up at 1-2 knots at first. This is the classic way to get your self into the wave, work the rotor until you can't climb any more and then push out up wind. A mistake many make is to try and circle, the lift is fixed to the ground and it is easy to get blown down wind. Better to correct a mistake of being too far up wind than to get blown down wind and have to fight your way up wind.

Our flight trace

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=463039639

Well this was going to be Seth's first wave flight and x-c if things worked out which they did. And yes the winds early on were really nasty, you know when the rotor is reaching the ground when you experience very gusty winds with a large variability in wind direction. A situation that has been the root cause of many accidents to both gliders and tow planes a like. The irony of it all is after you get through all the turbulence, on top it is perfectly smooth air that is heavenly. I sort of relate it to surfing in big waves, you need to paddle out through the white water before you can get to the outside to enjoy the fast clean rides.

This day had all the elements including a first comfortable place to be flying wave in high winds, i. e. flying a wave band up wind of the airport. As nice as it is flying in the lift, the bands of sink between the wave bars can dump you in a hurry, especially if you need to penetrate into the wind, The day before I and others needed to use wave lift to get back to Truckee, for me it was all the way from Mono Lake , in doing so I need to jump several wave bands up wind, each time losing tremendous altitude with each jump. My trace on OLC tells the story pretty well. Talk about a roller coaster ride on the grandest scale.

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=386033728

Sharing a flight like we had together is one of those experiences that has kept me in the role of instructor for over 20 years. These are conditions that require skill, knowledge and experience to fly safely and can teach you a tough lesson if you find yourself in the impact zone, a phrase we use in surfing when you get caught on the inside where the waves are breaking on your head. Coming up this winter we can have similar conditions at Byron with great wave flying off Mt. Diablo. There is great x-c potential when this happens and we are still learning what might be possible in terms of distances. Wave can be found as far south as Avenal and north well beyond Williams. So who is going to claim the first 1000km flight out of Byron!!!! Maybe a prize could awarded like some free tows or something like Soar Hollister gave Eric Rupp for his flight to Calexico this last season.

http://www.soarhollister.com/news.htm

It was a great flight and fun to share the knowledge and experience and look forward to doing more of the same in the future,

Buzz CFIG

New Soaring Enthusiasts

Monique introduces three new potential enthusiasts to the sport on Saturday.

Mike Shapira earns B Badge

MIKE SHAPIRA SOARS 1hr 20 min in the 1-26 and earns SSA "B" Badge,

CONGRATULATIONS and WELL DONE Mike!

Beautiful Soaring Day in Truckee

A sky covered with lenticular clouds which last until after sunset.

Richard and Penny host a Pancake Breakfast.

John and Sue Randazzo help tie down Grob KP after flying.

Bruce Walters, longtime NCSA Tow Pilot refreshes his soaring skills in KP.

Blanik AS joins Grob 41KP and Grob 32SS on the Truckee flight line.

Mike Shapira, A Badge

Congratulations to Mike Shapira, who had his first flight in the 1-26, just after achieving his SSA "A" Badge!

Well done Mike!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ERIC NELSON FOR FIRST GLIDER SOLO TODAY!

Well done Eric!

Check out on the 1-26 next!

Coming to the Truckee Bash July 26th?

-Monique

Mountain Soaring Camp 2008

Smoke gets in your eyes
Wild Flowers, Wild Fires, Wild Fliers

We were 9, Sal, Mark and I from NCSA, and Eric, Cheese, and Bill from USAF, Monique, Richard, and Rolf. I was at first impressed and daunted by resumes including F-15, commercial airline, and air force glider instructor rating. I held the role of least experienced.

The 3 from USAF were bent on attaining silver ratings. We had 2 gliders, our own Blanik AS, and Duo Discus DDX rented by the USAF contingent. Mornings were dedicated to ground school, briefings,and classroom learning. I remember especially much excellent material on flight physiology.

The rest of day was dedicated to flying. It was my first time flying out of anywhere but home Byron. I thought the Truckee operations were efficiently run, with off-runway staging areas, and towing gliders into place with golf cart. The deep pit below the glide path of runway 19 was scary to me, especially at first. I was perennially far too high in the pattern. It was also my first time using oxygen, and I was having a little trouble layering on yet another piece of essential equipment. This became a little more natural and comfortable by the end of the week.

We were hindered most of the week by smoke. On one flight, I saw the deep brown smoke literally pouring into the valley through clefts in the mountains and through Donner pass. I flew three soaring flights, one each with Richard, Rolf, and Monique,reaching altitudes of 13, 12, and 15 K feet. Fittingly, my last flight of the last day was my best. With the smoke significantly cleared for the first time that week, Monique and I soared to 15,000 feet, a new personal record. I thought I flew the best when I had lots of altitude and time to get used to it. At high altitude, Monique suggested, "OK,let's go someplace." So we toured Mt. Verdi, Mt. Rose and NorthStar /Mt. Pluto. I learned the "photo op" turn. Steep right turn ... OK, got it, roll out. We had Reno Intl. in sight.

Also on Friday, Cheese happily achieved his 5 hour flight.Monique told me during the week, "This is a manic depressive sport." I could certainly relate to that. I had flights I loved and where I couldn't seem to do anything right.Richard's BBQ Friday night was well and cooperatively done. Very hospitable. I consulted on menu planning. While at the BBQ, I observed a hawk carrying its fish dinner home from Martis Lake by air. The sun appeared as a large distant luminous red balloon at sunset. I was recognized as the most improved pilot at the awards ceremony.

I helped put out a small brush fire on next Saturday morning with the garden hose used to run the lawn sprinkler. 100% containment. No structures threatened. Turns out that the hot coals from the night before were dumped in the sage brush and smoldered for a couple of hours before coming to life in flame.

Thank you to our instructors for organizing, making it all happen and being there for us.. Yes, I'd do it again next year, but hopefully without the smoke.

Leonard Edmondson

New Tow Plane?

Hot day musings in Byron: dreaming of a new Tow Plane.?????

Larry Suter - Wings Certificate

Congratulations to Larry Suter for receiving a Certificate for completing a phase of the new FAA WINGS!

Well done, Larry!

Mark Violet's Thermal Camp Report

Had another great time at Thermal Camp at Air Sailing, NV last week. The weather didn’t cooperate the first 3 days: cold and wet. First time in many years (1930’s ?) that Reno received eight days of consecutive rainfall at the end of May. By Wed, weather was good, Thurs better, and Friday still good. My previous longest flight time solo was 55 minutes at Byron, which is not too bad for a rookie. On Wed at AS, I had two flights of over an hour in length; first up to 8800’, then 9300’ on second. Great fun. Thurs was better with a flight over 3.5 hrs and up to 11,900’ near Tule Peak. Lift everywhere… After almost 3 hours, I was getting tired and was down to about 7000’ and thinking of landing. Flying near the airport I flew into a 4 knot thermal and couldn’t just ignore it, that would be wasteful! So I circled and climbed back up to 11000’ again. Lift was stronger as I approached cloud base (maintain 1000’ clearance) and a few times the variometer was pegged and bouncing against 1000’ per min vertical climb rate. Whoopee…. Finally decided to pull spoilers around 9000’ and spiraled back down to airport….

Mike's Thermal Camp Report

I showed up in Tahoe City on Friday night with a nice cold welcome and some good solid rain to help make me feel cozy. With rain in the forecast through most of the week, I was beginning to feel rather un-optimistic about thermal camp.

We all showed up at various times throughout the weekend. Mostly on Sunday. It stopped raining long enough to get some of us area checkouts. Monday and Tuesday were mostly spent watching everyone using their laptops to check the weather. Some very short flights were made.

Wednesday made up for it though. Rolf let us out early from morning class and we all made some pretty spectacular flights. I managed to eke out a 6 hour flight in SS. I could have stayed up another hour or so, but I knew Mark and Taylor were waiting patiently for me on the ground to head out to town for pizza. So, along with a 5k foot gain in altitude, I came down and was assured a portion of my Silver Badge. Ah, but Rolf said I needed a data logger, so I would have to do it again. So, I took advantage of another wonderful soaring day on Thursday to pull off a 5.8 hour flight or so with at least a 6k foot gain. This time with the data logger.

Rolf took me off the leash on Friday (our toughest thermal day) and let me plan a 35 mile flight to Silver Springs. After a VERY short first flight (roughly 5 minutes from release to landing), and a most embarrassing wait behind 4 other gliders I managed to get back up and stay up. Although, I was almost back in the pattern on that tow as well. Finally, I caught a break and rode a decent thermal to 10k. From there, it was perhaps one of the slowest average speeds on record, but a completed cross country nonetheless.

It was the first time I have been out of gliding range of my homefield and the initial commit was, to say the least, quite exhilarating. The final 10 miles or so to Silver Springs was completely devoid of lift and I wondered what I was going to do to get back without an aero tow. I saw some cu's forming another 10 miles further away and thought, if I'm going to land out at Silver Springs anyways, I might as well go big. Luckily, they paid off big time and allowed me to work my way back up to I-80 and over into Palamino valley. I'm gonna be honest with ya, even at a conservative 4 miles per thousand feet, my final glide looked quite impossible. Especially with some areas of sink.

So many emotions on a cross country flight. Exhilaration, frustration, relief, disbelief, complete elation. I can't wait to do it again.

With the Silver Badge out of the way, it's time to look forward to finishing off my Bronze Badge. Haha, you've got to love soaring up there.

Mike Voie

NCSA Cross-Country/Bronze Badge Class May 18th 2008

Soaring Reports May 17th 2008

From Ramy Yanetz:

Great flight Buzz. You pulled out a truely incredible flight on Saturday and in challenging conditions. I did not quite make it back to Hollister on Sunday. I landed some 25 miles from Avenal (Lost Hills) and got a tow back from Avenal.

Here is my posting on hgcgroup on my safari trip from Hollister to Hemet:

My Hemet adventure (long):

About once a year, if the conditions look good enough to have a shot at a new mad dash record, I give it a try. In the past I used to do it with a crew (usually my wife) following, but recent years I started experimenting with other methods, and started going crewless (and some might say clueless). Last year I self retrieved by catching an airline back home from Ontario and taking the family for a trip the following weekend to retrieve the glider. This year the plan was to either land at a glider port or close enough to one to get an aerotow from there, so I set my eyes to Jacumba again, and figured that the $500 prize will more than cover for the aerotow to Warner Springs if I make it that far. I didn't have a good plan in case I'll land out in a field. It wasn't a pleasant thought so I didn't think much about it.

First attempt was on Friday, which failed spectacularly with a landing at Panoche. Saturday looked great, as well as Sunday, so I decided to go for it, and called an optional straight out task to Jacumba, which Eric and myself attempted. However one of the key things is an early start, which requires an early day. I launched at noon, but the conditions started late and slow, and were developing behind us, so it was rather a struggle up to California Valley. I still made New Cuyama in good time (3PM) exactly 3 hours from takeoff, something I could have accomplished in the past with my LS4 only in the strongest conditions. However 3PM in New Cuyama is marginal for a trip all the way to the border, and requires faster progress from that point, which wasn't possible, as it requires transitioning through 4 more shearlines: the Frazier Mountain shear line (behind Mt Pinos), the Crystal shear line, Big Bear, and last the San Jacinto to Jacumba line. There are 30-60 mile gaps between the shear lines, which requires slowing down to best glide, then long and occasionally slow climbs back. I am now convinced that a pure thermal flight to Jacumba (as opposed to catching a wave in Mojave) is only possible on very rare days which have great conditions all the way through, start early (no later than 11AM so New Cuyama can be made before 2PM) and last all the way to sunset. Saturday wasn't even close. By the time I got high enough over the shear line behind Frazer Mountain (south of Gorman) to 14K (my highest for the day) and committed for the Mojave desert it was already 4PM and there were only few cu's far in my direction. I realized that I may make Warner Springs (50 miles from the border) at best if I don't get low on the way. The transition to the Crystal shearline by Palmdale wasn't too difficult this time, but it was a slow going, and I didn't get quite as high as needed (at least 14K) to make the jump across the Cajun pass to Big Bear Mountain. By around this time Eric landed near Lancaster, so I was now completely on my own. I still tried to make it to Big Bear following the recommended route on the Great Western (Crystal) web site by climbing on the northern flanks, but hit tremendous sink and had to take a detour towards Apple Valley. Down to about 1500ft AGL I gave all hope, dumped my water and was heading to Apple Valley airport, where I landed in my previous attempt last year. This was disappointing, as I wanted to at least break my own record south. I finally got out of the Cajun pass sink and started climbing very slowly, at first it started looking like I may be able to make it back to Crystal so I started heading back, but continued climbing to 11K. It was after 6PM so I figured it is likely my last good climb, not enough and too late to attempt Big Bear again, but high enough to glide over the Cajun Pass to Hemet, where I can take a tow the next day. I could have easily glided to Palm Spring instead, but getting a tow there the next day would have been tough...

I landed at Hemet at 7:30PM, around 520km from Hollister (620km OLC). Not quite a new distance record, but the furthest I have ever gone from Hollister, so I am not complaining. I tied down the glider, got a ride to the nearby Motel 6, jumped in the pool and took a much needed rest.

The following day looked great, with high base cu's popping over the high mountains by 11AM. I took off at 11:30, but it was a long struggle to get out of the Hemet Valley and climb up the flanks of the San Jacinto Mountain overlooking Palm Springs. I eventually got to 14K and enjoyed the beautiful view of the mountain and Palm Springs below, then headed across the Banning pass, climbed up San Gorgonio and Big Bear where I topped at 16,500 feet, my highest for the day. I easily connected with the Shear over Crystal to Palmdale, where I had my last Cu at 13K. From there I had 3 options: cross to Tehchapi and go up the Sierras, however the cus were not high enough and west enough to give me a decent chance on crossing back the San Joaquin valley later. Besides it was a bit too late for that. There were few cus far over the Frazier/Gorman area, but it is all high terrain with very few landing options there and I figured I will arrive there too low for comfort, so elected to take a straight line towards the Kern Mountains and Taft, and hope for the best. It was a dead glide until I got below 6K, and from there it was a slow progress to Taft. I could not get over 6K and only found sink over the Taft ridge due to the NW flow. I was too low to cross the California Valley, and there were no indications of shear lines, it was blue and hot. I could hear the Avenal contest pilots announcing their distance from the finish gate, but had no idea where they flew and could not get any information from them, as they kept radio silence except announcing 4 miles out...

I did hear Kurt not very high somewhere near Henandez, but it was so late and slow progress against the wind with deteriorating conditions, I figured if I make Avenal I'll be lucky. I didn't quite make it, landed at Lost Hills some 25 miles from Avenal, but got hold of Loyal who came from Avenal to tow me. I released half way to Hollister somewhere near EL4 and landed just before sunset.
It was quite an adventure, and great to be back without needing a crew.
OLC traces:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=1490067
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=1974524

Ramy Yanetz


From Buzz Graves:

http://www.onlineco ntest.org/ olc-2.0/gliding/ getScoring. html?scoringId= 1&year=2008&month=05&day=17

Saturday was great day to be in the air. Each weekend through the month of May the HGC host a contest and we are tasked to push the envelope. This is my longest flight in the Bay area, while Ramy was reaching for the Jacuba at the Mexico bounder. We flew together helping each other as far as New Cuyama near San Ynez where I decided to turn back north. We launched early and as you will see on the traces we struggled a bit in the beginning before the day kicked into gear. The ride back was one to remember, the convergence was marked by small clouds and haze domes and progress was quick and easy cruising along at 10-12k. Then things changed north of Coalinga. My last climb was at Central peak to 10.7k and from there it was a long 60 mile final glide to Hollister getting there just at pattern altitude. Several times I thought I was going to need to light the engine, but I was just able to hold on enough to make it back. I was ridge soaring small hills, enough to slow my descent be not enough to climb. What shut the area down was the intrusion of the marine layer, the same wind we get at Byron down 23 in the afternoon this time of year..

A small note, I flew off the end of my waypoint list on See You around Avenal, from there to the south was using a sectional the old fashion way. Wasn’t that hard as at that point I was mostly following the clouds.

The day ended with retrieving UV that landed out at Hernandez South, a great strip up in the mtns near San Benito just north and west of Coalinga. A long day and it was near 1:00am before I got home.

By the way Ramy made it to Hemet on Saturday and rumor has it he launched from there on Sunday to guess what, he flew back to Hollister…..I think??? His SPOT trace showed something like that with him landing around 8 pm.

Once understood the soaring conditions that exist to the south can rival those in Nevada a good day. The dynamics of the atmospheric motions between the Central Valley air mass and the Marine air mass is unique. For those of you that want to study this, use the RASP for the Sierras that Dimitri has made available to us.

http://www.norcalso aring.org/ BLIP/SIERRA/ index.html

Buzz Graves

From Yuliy Gerchikov:

Perhaps I should just be quiet given what the Hollister crowd (and a couple of our own NCSA members) have accomplished today... But I'll chirp anyway.

Since Pacheco Pass crossing looked iffy in today's forecast, and since it was not easy even yesterday with much stronger forecast, I decided to save a high launch and did an equivalent of a local tow. It quickly turned out that the only game in town was the "usual" Byron convergence building up in the early afternoon. But what a convergence it was! Later in the afternoon it drifted on over Clifton Forebay and revealed two things I haven't experienced before.

First of them I can only describe as dust devils on water. I was working a late (tm) quiet lazy thermal that started over Byron highway and drifted all the way across the Forebay. From the vantage point just east of the Forebay one could clearly see the wind on the water -- and what a sight it was!

Over the western -- closest to the airport -- shore the wind was blowing quite strongly from the west, dragging streaks and tossing occasional "crow's feet" across the water. This was consistent with Byron AWOS reporting 230@14G18.

At the same time over the northern shore the wind blew equally strongly from the north, also drawing its clear signature on the water.

And sure enough, in the middle of the Forebay they collided. Clearly visible on the water surface, the late afternoon sea breeze was fighting with itself -- the Altamont Pass arm was wrestling with the San Joaquin Delta arm along an amazingly sharp line right over water.

Where the two winds touched, the air had no way to go but up, and up it went -- with a flare. Clearly visible on the water there were several mini-tornadoes, small but vigorous swirls that were appearing, waltzing around the surface for a while and disappearing only to reappear next minute a short distance away. If it was over dry land I guess there would be a line of dust devils dancing across the ground -- but the two winds that created them would not be so amazingly palpably visible.

Anyway, the sight was so powerfully mesmerizing that I stayed in lift over it and watched... and watched. And that led to another interesting experience.

Now I think that it must have happened to me before, but I could not interpret it as clearly as with today's visual signs.

After a while I noticed that the air was not the typical convergence air anymore. It was no longer bumpy and lumpy -- it had no texture. The flow was completely laminar in that unreal and almost eerie way that is characteristic of mountain wave. Except, of course, there wasn't enough wind for wave, nor nearby triggers, and no typical wave crosswind bars. The air was just uniformly going up for miles and miles, both upwind and downwind -- I traced the line half way to Stockton before turning back, all while staying close to 4000 and not losing any altitude. I must have been above -- and clear of -- the collapsing late afternoon boundary layer, in smooth undisturbed flow that was only gently bulging up supported by the convergence line below.

I wanted to see how high this lift went, but it was getting late. So instead, to lose altitude, I checked how wide it was. It turned out to stretch from not quite up to Mountain House to not quite up to Discovery Bay.

And then I landed on 30 and bounced three times. At least when it's late no one is watching.
--
Yuliy ("L8")

P.S.: If you left before sunset you missed a small airshow put up by Elevator Two.

SS Landout Recovery

SS experienced a gear lockup Sunday, May 4th, and landed out on a newly mown field. Here is the derig and recovery sequence by trailer.

Tragic Loss

NCSA mourns our DAVE CUNNINGHAM - APRIL 18th, 2008 - Dave will live on in our hearts!

Our condolences to Kathleen.

New Accomplishments

Congratulations to Mike Voie who completed the requirements for and earned his SSA "C" Badge,












and to Seth Dunham who achieved his Private Pilot Glider Rating on Saturday with examiner Dan Gudgel.

Congratulations also to Ramy who flew three 500km+ X-C flights from Byron in the past month.

Well done.

More New Badges for the Club

Congratulations to Phil H., Seth D. and potential member Bert Gillings who all passed their Bronze Badge written exam.

Congratulations to Seth D. who completed the requirements for and earned his SSA B and C badges and Sal L. who completed the requirements for and earned his SSA C badge.

Well done!

New Badges for the Club

New Badges:

-CONGRATULATIONS TO:

SAL LOPEZ WHO EARNED HIS SSS "C" BADGE,

and to:

STEVE YODER, WHO EARNED HIS SSA "A" BADGE

WELL DONE!

Monique

All the Gliders in One Place

A Typical Day at Byron

These are images of March 15th, 2008

Results of the Safety Seminar

Some 59 attendees were present during the recent NCSA 2008 SAFETY SEMINAR at Byron Airport on Saturday, February 23, 2008. They heard the following presentations:

Ramy Yanetz: USE OF RASP & BLIP MAPS as a Planning Tool for Safe XC Soaring from Byron;




Mike Schneider: BYRON AIRPORT OPERATIONS - REVIEW of RECENT INCIDENTS, with focus on Preflight Checks, Canopy!, Spoilers! - Runway Incursions, ATC communications;


Dan Gudgel, Examiner and Meteorologist: WEAK AREAS ON CHECK RIDES, Examiner Lessons Learned, Weather Source Considerations;
Richard Pearl: ACCIDENT REVIEW - COMPLACENCY as a large factor in accidents (presented by Dan);

Thanks to Monique Weil who qualified this seminar for WINGS credit. The presentation materials will be made available on the Internet in the near future.



By Dave Cunningham