It had been a disturbingly uneventful flight. The long elusive diamond distance was now only 71 miles ahead as I again turned north over the Altoona ridge for the fourth and final leg of my declared diamond distance task on the Bald Eagle Ridge. Only 3:30 PM and the ridge continued offering up the same gentle lift and sink I had encountered all day. It had been no problem maintaining a comfortable height with speeds between 75 and 85 knots. I'd been flying 300' to 400' above the ridge, which has a high point of about 2500' at Altoona, a low point of about 1500' near Striedick's Eagle Field, and generally is around 1700'. I had stopped to thermal up a couple of times before crossing Milesburg Gap, at the high point before Ward's farm, and the unlandable stretch at Howard Dam. Was it really going to be this easy? So many past flights had seemed a sure success, only to suddenly go all-wrong and leave me humbly sitting in a rapidly selected field. Was this to be yet another "almost" or was my growing optimism correct this time?
Radio chatter from Loch Haven, discussing weakening ridge lift and the decision to call it a day and return to Knauff's, quickly re-established the anxiety that had been with me all day. I went back to the endless self-created worries. I had to get to Jersey Shores, well beyond where those pilots were, to make the minimum distance.
My task called for me to go beyond that to Nisbet for the remote finish and then nearly 50 miles back to land at Knauff and Grove's Ridge Soaring. The ridge after Loch Haven is nearly east west and notorious for not supporting ridge conditions. Twice before I had been up there with good lift, but I still was unsure if it was ridge lift or thermals. Would the thermals be gone? Did I need to be higher, lower, faster, slower? Was I being too conservative to complete the task or would pushing now bring the whole thing to an unsuccessful end?
300' to 400' above the ridge doesn't leave a lot of time to plan a landing, so I had spent the last four hours planning one after another pattern, "just in case." The fields were limited because all the best ones had standing corn stalks or randomly placed hay bales. Spring would be a better time if you were worried about landing out! Looking over the fields I had chosen on previous passes, I again worried about the best picks and approaches. Several would be the most demanding landings I had ever made, and I didn't want to find out if I had made the right choices. Doris Grove had kindly agreed to be my observer, but I had not discussed retrieves with anyone. I decided to fly faster and a little lower to see if I could get to the other end of the ridge before convection died or everyone closed up shop.
The task had been selected the night before after consulting with Jonathan by phone. I had brought the Discus home and had been watching the weather for the right opportunity. A cold front had passed and NW winds were predicted. Probable weak thermals and a little too northerly winds prompted Jonathan's orders, "Fly the north end of the ridge, don't try to cross the large gaps (Altoona and Bedford), don't worry about all the extra miles- a remote start and finish is nothing and getting into those gaps is to be avoided at all costs! Don't be in a hurry to leave- be sure thermals have started, maybe around noon would be good; watch out for the Milesburg Gap." Diamond distance can now be flown using three turnpoints that are at least 10 km apart. With a remote start and finish at Nisbet, my turnpoints would be Ward's farm, a point half-mile NE of Nisbet, and the power line on the Altoona ridge. This avoided the gaps, but added 93.66 miles to the total distance.
I arrived at Ridge Soaring around 9 AM and found a line of trailers and sailplanes. It was Thursday and Ridge Soaring was officially closed. Tom Knauff was sick and wanted to get the tows done and go home. Walter Weir (Canadian ace) and Richard Kellerman would be leading neophytes on ridge tours. It occurred to me that I should join them and learn something. Maurice has already written in Convector about his diamond distance plan to the south. No one thought much of my task. They were all in the air reporting good ridge lift and heading south towards the Altoona gap when I took the last tow at 11:30. The tow was smooth, a test of faith that we won't hit the trees as Tom heads straight towards the ridge which is still way above us. I flew out alone to the north with 30 gallons of water ballast and doubts about my brother's advice. Everything was perfect; the worrying started immediately anyway.
Soon the news came from Altoona that the visibility was terrible, the gap couldn't be penetrated, and the gaggles were headed north. I passed over or to the right of them as I headed down the first leg. My flight went as planned. I took some unnecessary circles to gain height after prolonged periods of sink, but always found the ridge lift that would have regained the lost altitude without those time-wasting circles. The second and third legs went by without company or problems. Regular updates came from the tour groups who were now on the back ridges, now climbing high in thermals, and by mid-afternoon crossing the gaps and having a great time. Most had landed back at Ridge Soaring by the time I crossed overhead on that final leg. The ridges never failed, and my faster and lower tactics worked without problems. I was flying now at 85 to 90 knots about 300' above the ridge. I had stopped all those unnecessary circles, but did allow for one climb to get me a little extra height before that nasty Howard Dam. If I could only get to Jersey Shores the distance would be done and I could land there if needed. With the lift still working, I flew easily past Jersey Shores and to the finish. Savoring sweet success, I turned reluctantly to concerns of the return trip. As I prepared to pass that reservoir for the sixth time, I decided to climb for final glide and stop worrying about those marginal fields once and for all. With lots of extra height I circled Ridge Soaring, amazed that the flight had gone so well, and reminding myself that the landing held the final potential for error. Wide awake with adrenaline overdose, it didn't seem that I had been in the air for over five and a half hours as I completed a perfect touchdown and rolled to a stop. Later study of thermaling drift from the GPS trace showed the winds had been 310 to 320. Walter Weir and Ray Galloway were kind enough to help with computerized downloading of the declared flight and confirm that it was legal. Happily, the two-hour drive home was just as uneventful. Reviewing old logbooks revealed some interesting facts. This was my 174th cross-country flight. Fifty-three of those were incomplete: 20 ending on airports and 33 ending in fields (I actually thought it had been much more). Only once was there serious damage; never any injury. This was not my first time on the ridge. I actually had ridge instruction (long since forgotten but documented in an old logbook) at Cumberland in 1965 and at Elmira with Roy McMasters in 1969. I have struggled (or cruised in a cloud street) thirty plus miles upwind from Fairfield to the Tuscarora Ridge on a number of occasions. In 1993 I went there for the first time to learn from my brother who gave me increasingly frustrated radio instructions that were heard all over the east coast. I've sweated out some marginal ridge flights down to Harper's Ferry. I've more than once landed short of (or at the bottom of) ridges, usually unsure what I should have done differently. Sometimes my self-taught efforts paid off with wonderful flights which were much more challenging and rewarding then this last one that finally went the distance and earned the diamond. I look forward to doing a 500k out of Fairfield and perhaps taking advantage of the Bald Eagle ridge to fly a longer distance. I think I'm getting the hang of this ridge business, but I sure am a slow learner.
Learning to fly the ridge doesn't have to be this hard. Certainly no one should go cross country down a ridge until very confident of his or her off field landing skills. From Fairfield and Frederick only our experienced pilots can even try this exhilarating experience. A trip to a ridge site like Ridge Soaring, Cumberland, or Mifflin county allows a new or even student pilot to get dual and/or solo instruction without worrying, "what to do if the wind quits?" With the airport right there, you can learn the ridge techniques first and deal with the cross-country skills later. Later you'll avoid a lot of those outlandings due to inexperience on the ridge. More experienced pilots will appreciate the opportunity to practice flying the ridge without needing thermals to get there and back. RIDGE SOARING The Bald Eagle Ridge by Tom Knauff is a must read that covers techniques as well as details on the ridge, turnpoints, and possible flights. It teaches me something new every time I review it after a ridge flight. Some of us are planning a trip to Ridge Soaring in the spring. I hope a few more M-ASA members will join us. Bring a dual ship and we can give our own instruction at quite a saving.
C.W.
For more details see Map of this flight and the statistics as well on page 7 [sorry, not currently online - webmaster]
Our Treasurer is stepping down after 4 outstanding yrs. of duty. Contact a Board Member if you can take on this important task!!!
The bills for annual dues will be mailed very soon. Payment of dues is due no later than the club annual meeting. Members whose dues are not paid by the end of the annual meeting will be billed a 10% penalty for late payment. Members whose dues and other charges are not paid by May 1, 2000 will be dropped from the club roster. Members who wish to rejoin after they have been dropped will have to start the membership process over again with the payment of the initiation fee and a provisional year. If you have decided to go inactive take the time to let the membership officer know and arrange to clear up any outstanding charges to keep your option to reactivate with the club at a later date.
This year the bills do not contain the hangar charges. The hangar bills will be sent out after the February club meeting with the new rates being effective on March 1st, 2001. Payment of these fees will be past due after May 1st, 2001.
The club's annual meeting is scheduled for March 9, 2001 at 7:30PM. The meeting will start on time to ensure that we end promptly at 10:30PM. Show up by 7:15PM to ensure that the meeting can start on time. The meeting will be held at the Frederick Community College Aviation Maintenance Technology Hangar. Attendance at this meeting is mandatory for all M-ASA members. Anyone who does not attend this meeting must receive a safety briefing from a club Board member or designated substitute prior to flying with the club. Last year the annual meeting was video-taped so that those who missed the meeting could view the video for their safety briefing, we plan to do the same this year. See you there!!
T.J.
The holidays have come and gone, and once again the Region 4 North Soaring Championships are only four months away. As I look over the list of things that must be done to pull our contest together, I get a feeling in the pit of my stomach that must be similar to what hang glider pilots feel out at High Rock just before they launch. Things will be great once we get into the air. Well, here we ago again!
Our sanction request to SSA was recently approved (finally!), and we got the dates that we wanted. The contest, as usual, will start over the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, May 26, will be Practice Day. Competition flying will start on Sunday, May 27, and finish 7 days later on Saturday, June 2. We plan to fly three classes of competition this year: Standard, 15 Meter, and Sports Class. The contest mailers to prospective contestants will be sent the week of January 22. The mailer will contain a pilot registration form, which can be sent to me along with your deposit, or you can register on-line via the SSA web site and send the deposit separately. The big question last year and again this year is, will we only use flight recorders for task documentation, and therefore, not have a traditional start gate? The answer is that the SSA Rules Committee decided at its annual meeting held last November that organizers of Regional contests this year can make the decision to use flight recorders on their own, i.e., that decision is at the option of Regional contest organizers for the year 2001. However, this decision must be announced by the time of the preferential entry deadline, which for us this year is March 27, 2001 (hopefully, I did the math correctly). Thus, I will make this decision after I have an opportunity to confer with this year's Competition Director, and I will factor in our experience from last year (there were only a handful of pilots dependent on cameras) and any input I receive from this year's prospective competitors (please feel free to call, write, or e-mail me).
I am pleased to report that we have personal commitments for the positions of CD, Meteorologist, Chief Scorekeeper, and Chief Tow Pilot. I have been in direct contact with Charlie Spratt, and he has agreed to call the tasks for us this year (aren't you relieved Bill?!). Dr. Ward Hindman, Sarah Macpherson (did I finally spell it right?), and Jim Chick are returning in the same roles that they filled in last year's contest, which is also very exciting news and a great relief to me. I have reserved the Hickory Bridge Farm for our traditional contest banquet (everyone is welcome) on Thursday evening, May 31. There are several new racing ships in the club, and more are on the way. Based on that, and several conversations with people who intend to fly this year but did not fly last year, I am getting the impression that we will probably surpass last year's total number of contestants, which was 35 plus guests.
Last year's contest was a big success, and I heard many nice compliments about the super job that our club did in supporting the pilots and their crew. It takes a lot of people to successfully host a great contest like our Region 4 North. I want to encourage those of you who missed out on the fun last year to come out this year and give it a try. One day, two days, or stay all week, you'll have a blast. Right now, we have openings for tow pilots (please call Jim Chick), sniffers, ops directors and line people, cookout and banquet coordinators, office managers, facility managers, contest reporter, and start gate directors (if we go that way). Supporting our contest is a great way to learn more about sailplane racing and meet more of your fellow members and some of our country's great soaring pilots. Please feel free to call me at home or e-mail me to let me know how you would like to participate in making this year's contest a great event.
P.B
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SOARING ASSOCIATION Board of Directors:
Officers:
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For Sale: 1971 Libelle 201 - SN 212 - 1,270 hrs. T.T. Good Condition - High profile canopy Rico Audio TE Vario, Winter Vario Icom handheld transceiver, Security 150 wing & canopy covers, enclosed trailer $14,500. For more info, Contact Dave Leizer at: (410) 484-7683 after 7:00 p.m. or email: dleizer@flash.net. (To see, go to URL: home.flash.net/~dleizer) For Sale:
If interested in any of the 4 items above, Contact Mike or Carmen Waters. 717 642 6253 |
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New Members
The following are completing their provisional year with M-ASA and should send a photo and request for permanent membership to...
Hope Howard, 4823 Teen Barnes Rd., Frederick, MD 21703-6932.
Photo need not be ID-type - anything identifiable will do, and will most probably be returned. It may not be sent by e-mail. Request may be but will not be considered without photo:
H.H.
If you've earned a badge or badge leg be sure to alert the Convector Editor and let all your friends in M-ASA know too!
Fix it! Get involved!! Run for the Board of Directors. Seriously, if you wish to have a positive impact, consider running for the Board. Nominations for the 2001 positions are due in between Feb 2- Feb 16, with voting at the "all hands" general meeting in March. See last month's Convector for more details.
Ed.
M-ASA's fee structure is being reviewed by the Board. If you want to be informed and give your input to the Board you should attend this general membership meeting at the FDK clubhse Friday Feb 9 @ 8:00 PM
Ed.
A number of M-ASA members were presented with tokens of the club's appreciation at the annual banquet. Once again Charley Thurber went "the extra mile" creating personalized plaques, paperweights and mugs honoring the achievements of many club members.
Vern Chapin was surprised with the awarding of this year's Campbell Award. Thanks Vern for many years of dedication and hard work.
The awarding of the Club Champion and Task Day Champion was postponed until the March meeting. However the Green Trophy was awarded to Mike Higgins for his Diamond Goal flight on 1 July 2000.
Three M-ASA tow pilots were presented awards for their service. Bob Andrew (228 tows) and Jim Trygg (200 tows) were recognized for their contributions. Dee Torgerson walked away with the Tow Pilot of the Year award having flown 392 M-ASA tows for the year.
Each of the club's Flight Instructors was presented a mug with special recognition being awarded to Val Brain (111 flights) and Gene Wilburn (95 flights). David Pixton was recognized as the Instructor of the year. David flew 113 instructional flights and two of his primary students completed their licenses this year.
Four M-ASA students soloed this year and were presented paperweights commemorating the event. Recipients were:
The following members were recognized for receiving their private pilot's certificates this year:
Badges won:
| Silver Badge | 8 July 2000 |
| Gold Badge | 1 July 2000 |
| Diamond Goal | 1 July 2000 | |
| Diamond Alt. | 7 Mar 2000 | |
| Gold Badge | 28 July 2000 |
| Diamond Goal | 28 July 2000 | |
| Diamond Dist. | 19 Oct 2000 |
Special recognition for flying each month of the year:
Each of the Board of Directors and Club Officers was also thanked and presented mugs.
Congratulations to all; thanks for another fun and safe soaring season.
G.C.
This is to nominate Vern Chapin for the Campbell Award He has been active with the club for many years in several positions. First, he was a long-time Membership Chairman. Currently he is the Supervising Flight Instructor for Frederick with the job of assigning new students to whatever CFI-G is best suited for the student. To facilitate student assignment and have a realistic picture of actual CFI-G load, Vern has developed an attendance chart so that seldom-seen students do not show as instructor load when they are not. This allows for best use of what CFI-G time is at M-ASA's disposal.
With an eye to safety and smooth student transition, he has developed pre-solo written tests for club gliders beyond the 2-33, and also written tests for BFRs. He serves as librarian for the club's books and magazines in the library at Frederick - most for on-site reading, some for loan.
He also video-taped the March 2000 safety meeting with a copy for each field, so that those members who missed the meeting could watch the tape rather than burdening a director with a long and possibly incomplete briefing. For his many and continuing services to M-ASA I nominate Vern for the M-ASA Annual (Campbell) Award.
Hope Howard
A new gliderport opened during Year 2000 which deserves notice of all the Region 4 gliderfolk. It is on the current Washington sectional as Merlin (restricted use) with designator 2VA3, and lies about 30 miles west of Richmond. This field is the work of Richard S. Kavanaugh who has been a solid booster of gliding for many years. The field is sod, with superb drainage and an irrigation system to keep the grass green. Length is 3200 feet, width 100 feet for the landing surface. There is a bypass taxiway also. Two Cessna 188 towplanes are on the field, plus a building with hangar space, a machine shop, and bathrooms. The telephone is (804) 561-0777 and usually someone is there during the week as well as weekends. A rough distance measurement puts it about Gold Distance from Fairfield and about 165 statute miles from Frederick. With one turnpoint it would be easy to lay out a 300 km course to Merlin Field from FDK. Camping is permitted there, and it seems like a very nice destination for a weekend - or longer - expedition for some good gliding at an interesting place.
B.B.
When mice chewed through the tubing of my total energy probe, I was angry, but I got over it. When they made a nest under the seat cushion, I cleaned it out and forgot about it. But when they chewed up my new hat, a hat that I'd worn only one time, it was "no more Mr. Nice-guy!"
I bought traps and made sure to set them every time I put the glider away. Of course, I'd heard about the mothball method of keeping mice away, but I didn't want to fly in a glider that smelled like grandpa's suit. Any mouse that climbed up the wheel of my glider would get the death penalty. Well, the traps were effective, but capital punishment had it's drawbacks:
I didn't really want to kill the mice, I just wanted them to stay out of 81Alpha. Let them fulfill their niche in the environment as food for hawks and owls. Something more sophisticated than a spring trap was called for. Then it struck me: an electric fence around the wheel. "Electric fences keep cows in pastures. They keep dogs in their owner's yards. Why not keep mice away from my glider?"
I did a web search on "electric fence" and e-mailed a company that had something that looked promising, but they never replied. ("Is this guy joking?")
So I asked a "wire-head" friend if he could design a fence circuit for me.
He said, "I've got just the thing." What he had was an electric fly swatter.
"Never heard of an electric fly swatter?"
Neither had I. It's a gadget that looks like a small badminton racquet. In the handle are two penlight batteries and a circuit to increase the voltage to "insect lethal" levels.
"Kills bugs, but safe for pets and humans," or so it says on the package. Naturally, I had to test it on myself.
"Owww!" A shock like that would definitely make a permanent impression on a mouse.
Full of enthusiasm, I brought my electric flyswatter and my idea to Frederick. Not everyone shared my vision of this "breakthrough in anti-mouse technology." Still, guys can't resist a project that involves taking things apart and using them for something the manufacturers never intended. Paul Rehm took a look at the problem and volunteered to make a wood box to surround the wheel. Meanwhile, I did the repackaging of the flyswatter electronics and added the electrified rails to the box.
So, "did it work?"
"Yes! No more dead mice."
Another example of better living through technology.
R.M./"81A"
"81A" Glider Mouse Guard (Figure 2)
Would the person who sent in an unsigned OD preference form around the 18 to 22 of Jan. please let the scheduler know whom you are. Details: Asked for Frederick but will serve at Fairfield. Cannot serve on Federal Holidays Prefers Saturdays; block April to May and mid-Sept. to Nov.
(Ray Watson)
The following comments were made by Jim Foreman in the 1-26 Association website. The story of the spin in the 2-32 is a classic and Jim's explanation to RS126D416 is even more enlightening. I used to teach spins in TSA's 2-32 and even did some out of skidding turns. I guess what saved me is that I relaxed pressure on the stick, kept the stick centered and a "normal" spin developed. I'm not sure I would have been able to recoginize or recover in time from an inverted spin.
Right now, this is all academic, but I think it should go into the Convector. One very important point here is that there is NO warning burble. [Jim's comments are reprinted with his permission. D.T.]
One time an FAA examiner came down to do some CFI check rides.... He had never flown anything except a 2-33 and wanted me to give him a 2-32 checkout as part of my CFI flight and told me to write a lesson plan. I wrote the plan and one part was "Stalls and Spins". He looked it over and scratched through the word "spins" saying that they did not do spins during check flights. I didn't say anything.
We took a high tow and I had him do a series of stalls, telling me when he felt the burble and just before it was going to break. We did straight ahead, out of a shallow turn and a steep turn. He was doing fine. Then I told him that I wanted a stall out of a shallow banked skidding turn like what would happen on a low turn to final. I talked him right into a classic spin out of such a turn and he never felt a thing until it slid into a spin. As the nose went down, he slammed the stick forward with full opposite rudder. It rolled on its back and entered the slickest inverted spin you ever saw. He blew 1200 feet in the recovery.
When he gathered his wits he turned around and said, "You knew it was going to do that."
I told him, "Yes, but the main thing is that you didn't."
He renewed my CFI and I signed him off for the 2-32.
[Message text written by INTERNET:RS126D416@cs.com]
I have also heard that the 2-32 is a great spin trainer. But the trim setting is critical.
[Jim answered:]
It is probably the best glider spin trainer ever made because it requires positive action to effect a recovery from a fully developed spin. The old theory that it will recover if you just turn loose of the controls doesn't work with the 2-32. The old two turn hands-off recovery didn't apply to sailplanes when the 2-32 was certified. Actually, the trim has nothing to do with it because of the all-flying elevator. The trim is actually an anti-servo tab that can be adjusted to hold the elevator in a certain position.
As I read your account of the spin with the examiner aboard, my first reaction was that he did the advised procedure, down stick and full opposite rudder.
You have a totally different situation when the 2-32 (and a lot of glass ships) are stalled in a skidding turn. It's a different situation than pulling the nose up and when the stall occurs, kick full rudder to induce a skid, which causes the rotation.
In order to help you visualize the situation, I will be talking about stalling out of a left turn.
In a stall out of a skidding turn to the left, such as you'd find in a low turn to final, you will be applying left rudder to make the ship turn while using opposite (right) aileron to keep the bank from increasing.
As the nose tries to drop due to the loss of airspeed and turning, you will need to keep adding back stick to hold the nose up. It's actually the tip of the inside (left) wing that stalls first because the down aileron on that side increases the angle of attack in that area of the wing while the aileron up on the opposite (right) wing keeps that one flying.
By the time the inside (left) tip stalls, you will have nearly full left rudder in toward the turn, the stick well back and all the way to the outside of the turn. You are set up for the classic cross control stall.
Since only the tip is stalled and not the entire wing, the nose doesn't tend to drop the way it does in a stall straight ahead. Also, the wing near the fuselage is not stalled, so there is no buffeting to warn you and you will feel nothing happening. You are already trying to keep it from banking to the left so you apply more right aileron which aggravates the stall on the inside (left) tip and the ship begins to roll in that direction.
By the time you realize what is happening, the bank will be nearly vertical so when you throw the controls opposite to where they were, you actually apply aileron in the direction of the roll, top (right) rudder, which holds the nose up and full forward stick. As the ship rolls onto its back, you now have the controls in the position for an inverted spin in the direction your initial spin started.
There is very little negative G in an inverted spin and if your belts are tight, you might not notice it. You have the stick full forward and full opposite rudder but it doesn't seem to be recovering.
How many of you were around a number of years ago when the ASW-20 was new and several spun in while thermaling at low altitude with flaps in the climb position? That's exactly what happened to them. I had an opportunity to look at the wreckage of three of them and all had hit the ground inverted. It took me a long time to convince the FAA what was happening.
Full forward on the stick and opposite rudder applied at the same time may work on a lot of ships but the correct and positive way to recover is to: First: Center the stick. Second: Stop the rotation with the rudder and Third: Forward stick to unstall the wing and then recover from the dive.
This procedure is even more important when flying a ship with a "V" tail because simply reversing the controls will actually hold the ship in a spin. I'd almost need to have you standing behind a ship with a "V" tail to show you what happens to the control surfaces.
Almost the end of the season, and I was reflecting that I'd not had a good wave flight all year. Then, on November 11, the weather looked promising: about ten knots of wind at ground level out of the northwest, and shaggy-looking bars of cloud overhead, with a blue gap over Fairfield village. I told the tow pilot: that's where I want to go.
And that's where he went. I released at 3,300' agl just at the edge of the gap and found myself in weak lift. By dodging around spurs of cloud extending out into the gap I was able to gain a few feet and read a steady 100 fpm up the leading edge of the cloud. It took awhile to get level with the top of the cloud bar, but once it was cleared I could see over the top to a much better looking wave cloud some miles to the south near College Mountain and headed that way. A few minutes later I reached the leading edge of this cloud and found better lift to about 6,000', from where I could see this cloud bar extending many miles to the east toward Westminster. I explored in that direction, circling wherever I found patches of better lift, and eventually topped out at something over 9,000'.
From this altitude I could see various wave bars toward Thurmont and on toward Frederick, so I decided to fly in that direction. I picked up more lift near Thurmont, but when circling there I noticed something that made me change my mind. A very large jet was turning towards me at exactly my altitude, and I had to move out of his way at close to redline. He passed some distance away, but then behind him was another a few miles further on. I was right in the middle of the jet flyway passing over the Frederick omni and on to Dulles or National, so there was no way I could turn my back on them and continue on towards Frederick. Instead I headed back towards Fairfield, but even so had to dodge the traffic until at around 6,000' I was below their descent slope and out of immediate danger.
Back in the Fairfield area I was able to see other gliders working the wave clouds maybe a couple of thousand feet beneath, and later saw photos that Baude Litt had been taking of Jonathan Gere's ASW-20, one of which is posted on the SSA's website. The rest of the flight was uneventful -- except that these days descent from altitude always seems to overstress the bladder. . . . But I was reminded how risky it is climbing in wave near Frederick, especially when standing into wind in front of a wave bar that obscures the traffic. So long as you're well clear of cloud and look around every minute or so, you can always take evasive action, but if you fly on the same heading at altitude for longer than that, very bad things can overtake you.
But let's not end on a somber note. These winter wave flights are fun in part because they're free of the stress of task competition, when one can just look around and enjoy the scenery without worrying about making unnecessary turns or how fast you are climbing. And with GPS, the days when you could get lost above the cloud deck are passed. Now, into the box goes the Pik 20, and that wraps it up for another season.
V.B.
Recently scientists have used small transponders tracked by satellites to monitor the travels of the Laysan albatross. The Laysan albatross is one of the larger of about 2 dozen albatross species, weighing about 7 pounds, with an 11-foot wingspan. This individual, a female, made a series of what can only be described as "remarkable flights" over the course of the monitoring period. Clearly the albatross is one of the most accomplished soaring creatures inhabiting the planet.
In four months this bird flew 38,708 miles in search of food- a duty shared by her mate - to feed her solitary chick born and being reared on Tern Island, a speck of land in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles northwest of Honolulu. The total distance flown in the four months, equal to 1 1/2 circumnavigations of the Earth, averages to 9,676 miles per month or 322.5 miles per day. On some days she was on the wing for more than 20 hours. Her average flight speed was in the range of 15-30 miles per hour, soaring dynamically typically only a foot or two above the ocean waves, wingtips occasionally dipping into the ocean, riding the pressure surges caused by the wave swells. The albatross is so superbly adapted to this mode of flight, that she was able to to continue on her way partially asleep for many of these long flights, maintaining her course, while still on the lookout for food.
An example of one her remarkable flights is one that she started on Feb. 26. For several days she foraged close to home with limited success. She had followed this plan four times previously in missions of 506, 99, 876, and 2,388 miles. Her goal was to maximize food gathering while minimizing time away from her chick. She was using her life's experience and nose to go where she expected to find squid and other food sources from the ocean, traveling in loops a hundred or so miles from Tern Island. However, this time, she was unsuccessful in her efforts, not being able to find food in sufficient quantity to sustain either herself or her chick. Finally on March 3rd she knew that she had no choice to but strike out far to the north, to the boundary areas between the cold waters to the north and warmer southern waters, areas that typically are teeming with life. Had she not made this choice, both she and her chick might have perished. Her efforts were rewarded. She was able to quickly rebuild her strength and gather enough food which she carried home in her crop for her chick, traveling a direct course home 1330 miles in 4 days. Total distance for the entire mission, 4,200 miles. Ten minutes after feeding her chick she launched again heading out on another feeding mission.
Many of the young albatrosses sucumb to tiger sharks as they leave Tern Island the first time. These are their first flights. But the ones that survive that first year live for a remarkable number of years, with birds that were banded after WWII still returning to Tern Island.
B.W.
(Information Extracted from an article in the Jan-Feb 2001 Audubon magazine)
| Frederick | Fairfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
| 10 | Peter Zadwadzki | Sam Harry | George Burns | Jim Trygg | ||
| 11 | Ralph Wentzel | Tom Judkins | Elliott Blitz | Chuck Tellechea | ||
| 17 | Jim Karcher | Craig Moen | Chuck Aston | Chuck Forrester | ||
| 18 | Dimitrios Stamatelos | Robert Robins | Bob Luskin | Rex Root | Bill Savory | William J Judge |
| 24 | Garv Garvin | Poul Hansen | Terry L Claussen | Richard Latoff | John Hearn | |
| 25 | Bob Whitehead | Bob Andrew | Cass Luskin | Bob Kryzstan | Elmer Mooring | |
| 31 | Mario Piccagli | Jane Robens | Mark Segall | David Pixton | ||
Members assigned to operations duty must be on site in enough time to start operations by 10:00AM and stay at the field until operations are concluded. Each person listed on the duty roster is responsible for that day's assignment. In the case of "no-shows," the person acting as OD should indicate this fact on the flight sheet. "No-shows" will be fined $50.00. M-ASA's training process requires all new members to serve as Apprentice OD (AOD) at both M-ASA operating locations. This is to familiarize new members with the operating practices at each field. Any member who joined the previous year and who was not scheduled for AOD duty at each field, will be scheduled for AOD duty at each field in the current year. Note that AOD scheduling is done independently of duty preference information submitted on the member's duty preference form. After the AOD cycles have been completed every effort will be made to accommodate the new member's stated duty preference whenever possible. M-ASA Scheduler: Ray Watson 410-484-0333.
