Convector
Newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association

Reluctantly we have decided to cancel this year's Region 4 North contest. The reason is simple: not enough pilots signed up to enable us to hold an official contest. At the present time, firm commitments were received from only 9 pilots (plus Karl Striedieck, who planned to fly as a guest for a couple of days). Adding in expected late registrants from within M-ASA as well as outside of our club would not have brought the numbers high enough to enable us to follow through on our usual commitments. My guess is that we might have gotten into the high teens, and it would have been difficult to say which classes would have had a sufficient number of pilots to qualify for an official contest. Usually we are able to draw at least 30 contestants; my feeling is that anything under 20 does not warrant committing major club resources and volunteers for 8 days.

We intend to do a postmortem to make sure that we fully understand what happened this year. My best guess is that we fell victim to the TFR. We only had 3 non M-ASA pilots sign up (usually the M-ASA member contestants are outnumbered two to one by non M-ASA contestants). I suspect that non-member pilots were reluctant to risk their pilot privileges by flying tasks near the expanded TFR.

A lot of club members did their very best to try to make the contest happen. Glenn Collins has demonstrated the patience of a saint in trying to get two bureaucratic government agencies to follow through on their verbal commitments to us for a TFR waiver. I have no doubt that we will ultimately achieve this, but it may require a lot more help from all of us in the club, and a bit more patience. Right now, once again, we seem to be on the verge of making it happen. Bob Jackson has gone to a lot of effort to get the owner of the Gettysburg Airport to agree not only to let us fly there on the weekends, but to also to let us use that airport as back-up to ours during the contest for days when we would not be able to fly because of the TFR. Jim Chick got all of the tow pilots and tow planes lined up (including Jim Trygg, Chuck Forrester, Butch Thompson, and Karen Geisinger); Rolly and Cathy Williams committed to doing the cookouts; Ward Hindman was all set to come do the weather forecasting; Sarah Macpherson agreed to be our scorekeeper; John Duryea started getting tow ropes prepared; Chris O'Callaghan would have been our Competition Director; and Gigi Gere, Laura Hession, Joan Jackson, Claude Blanchi, Bob Critchlow, and Martha Burch all made major personal commitments to make the 2003 R4N another highly successful contest. I want to thank all of the folks mentioned above, and anyone I inadvertently left out, for your help in getting the contest going and for your willingness to give of your free time to work during the contest. M-ASA and the sailplane racing community are most appreciative of your past and continued support. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to make it happen in 2004.

A lot is going on at the moment. Most of it is good, but as is usually the case with the good stuff, it is progressing slower than most of us would like. Foremost on most of our lists is the temporary flight restriction we have endured over Camp David. After we submitted the names of those wanting to fly from Fairfield, the Secret Service began making rumblings that the agreement might be in trouble. About a week later, they informed me that the Department of Defense was rejecting it. We immediately rolled into a back-up plan and made some phone calls and got a key letter out. A week later, the Secret Service was back on the phone requesting a fresh copy of the agreement and stating that the Department of Defense was interested in re-evaluating the proposal. Since then we have been working closely with a senior officer at 1st Air Force to ratify the agreement in a mutually acceptable format. Once again all I can say is that we are close. Realistically, one of these times I might actually be correct.

In order to minimize the crippling effect of the TFR, Bob Jackson has coordinated and organized some excursions to Gettysburg. We have flown a number of operations here and although nothing is as good as home I believe all enjoyed themselves. This is not a perfect solution to our problem but it does work in a pinch. There is an additional cost associated with a landing fee but I have not heard any complaints. Remember to bring along a five dollar bill to cover the airport cost: making change is always a problem. We have not yet come up with a good solution to get some club gliders to Gettysburg but we are open to any and all suggestions.

On April 11 we held our monthly general meeting. This meeting was relatively well attended and a very productive discussion took place concerning contest finishes at Fairfield. This has been a very controversial topic for many years. Thankfully everyone came willing to listen and constructively add their views. The discussion began with a description of the maneuver, the considerations involved, the rationale behind it and a review of the previously accepted guidelines. We then discussed at length where each participant thought the problem areas were. An attempt was then made to map these potential problem areas to the M-ASA Fairfield operation and some tentative guidelines were sketched out. During the opening minutes of the meeting, I attempted to emphasize that the final solution was not going to be concluded that night, but recommendations would surface for the Board of Directors to ponder and debate. All members of the Board were in attendance and we are currently working to put in place guidelines which reinforce FAA regulatory guidelines, safety for all involved, and an atmosphere where pilot judgment and good flight discipline will be the benchmark used to determine our activities. Once the Board concludes its discussions on this, I will get the word out. Overall I am very pleased to see everyone come together to think through a polarized scenario to identify shortcomings and good practices to improve the way we operate.

Airspace problem, FAA regulations, what else can go wrong? Would you believe the state of Pennsylvania wants to rewrite regulations for airports? Apparently this has been an ongoing battle with lots of battle fronts and issues. The good news is it appears a hold has been placed on the immediate action and a council of small airport operators has been assembled to work with the Bureau of Aviation to build a working relationship where the Bureau supports aviation instead of hindering it. M-ASA has agreed to an active role on this council and Jim Trygg has participated in two meetings this month. More will follow as the process begins but the rhetoric sounds very positive and the state has also recently offered to help with our TFR communications.

On a final note the 2-33 is progressing. Last I saw it, one wing was prepped for paint, the tail surfaces were recovered, and the fuselage assembly still had some cosmetic work on the nose cone prior to covering. We still need lots of help though. Anyone who has ever worked on an aircraft building or restoration project knows the last 10% of the program takes 50% of the effort and time. Please pitch in. Come out and spend a day working to restore one of M-ASA's workhorses.

I'm sure there is more which could be covered but for the sake of space and time I'll wrap up for this month. My thanks go out to everyone who has taken the time to pitch in and help fix the numerous items around both fields this spring as we prepared to launch yet another season. I especially appreciate the many kind words of encouragement many have provided as we fight for our flying rights in the Mid-Atlantic region. It has been a true roller-coaster ride these past 18 months. Unfortunately it has been far from an "E" ticket. Fly smart and be safe.

Glenn

There is a French tale, Sept d'un Coup, about a young man who "kills seven with one blow." This story has two tales, of one soaring mission, involving two pilots, and one beautiful day.

Kilo Whiskey breaks through the radio chatter on frequency.

"Papa Sierra... we need some gas!" Papa Sierra acknowledges with a "click-click" of the microphone. They continue on.

A short time passes.

Papa Sierra says, "Kilo Whiskey... do you see that freshly mowed field just to our right where there are two combines working? That is a good 'landing' field."

Slight Pause.

Then Kilo Whiskey responds with a "Click-Click."

The indicated field is a large rectangular field whose long axis is aligned with the northwesterly winds. About 60 percent of its perimeter portion has been mowed as they pass over it. The harvesters do not see the two gliders rushing silently by a half mile over their heads.

April 29 and 30 easily offered the best soaring weekend weather yet of the 2000 season. Thermal tops late in the day Saturday and Sunday extended above 8K' MSL (approximately 8K' AGL) which is most unusual. Climbing above 6.5K' MSL represents "a very good day." Properly managed, each day could have been "a 300km distance" day. Saturday thermals featured actual 4 minute climb rates measured to be in excess of 400 FPM, very good. Sunday seemed to be as good if not better, although under mostly cu free skies. However Sunday, Papa Sierra's usually trusty electronic digital barograph, shuts down immediately after being activated, something that happens rarely when materials get moved about in the cockpit prior to flight. Too bad! Impressions, not the objective record of the barograph for this flight will tell the story of the day.

On Sunday, Kilo Whiskey and Papa Sierra decide to attempt an aerial rendezvous and do some comparative flying. This will be a first. Kilo Whiskey and Papa Sierra are SGS 1-35Cs built by Schweizer Aircraft Corporation near the end of the brief 1-35 production run. Both ships are owned by pilots who fly with the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association (M-ASA). Papa Sierra, owned by Bill and Judy Whelan, in the last 4 years with Bill at the stick, regularly has prowled the skies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. In that time, Papa Sierra has been teaching Bill "the rudiments of soaring." Together they have averaged about 100 hours per season aloft, with about a third of that time being cross country flying. Most flights start from Frederick, Maryland, but some occasionally from M-ASA's other homesite, Fairfield, Pennsylvania. Kilo Whiskey is a relative newcomer to Frederick, purchased in the last 6 months by her newest owner, Paul Rehm, and moved up north from Texas. Kilo Whiskey, also based out of Frederick, is S/N 76. Or, of the roughly 100 1-35s of all variants built by Schweizer, Kilo Whiskey is 12 production units "younger" than Papa Sierra. Both have seen many miles in their years of service.

The 1-35 represents "the end of an era," when metal ships were displaced by fiberglass ships, due to the slightly better performance of fiberglass. But as a "first" 15 meter glider, there is much to recommend the 1-35. It is a tough, rugged, flapped glider, which depends solely on its highly effective flaps, permitting very steep final approaches to land. Flaps add lift and drag thereby reducing landing speeds and the kinetic energy associated with landing. The pilot can instantly modulate the flap settings in fractions of a second on approach with the sweep of a control handle. The flap control operates much like typical spoiler controls, and quite unlike the slower, more cumbersome but typical flap controls of most contemporary flapped gliders. (These ships have flap controls which must be adjusted by turning a rotating adjustment handle through several revolutions.) This gives the 1-35 pilot incredible flexibility to very quickly make adjustments on final approach, a huge operational and safety advantage, particularly for those early off field landings (OFLs). This, in conjunction with its powerfully effective hydraulic disc wheel brake and nose skid, makes it a nearly ideal ship to "shoehorn" into the smallest of eastern fields. Very easy to fly, possessing decent performance (i.e. L/D in the mid-30s for the "C" or fixed gear club model), in many respects it would be hard to pick a better suite of characteristics for the new soaring pilot wishing to learn safely "the art of cross country soaring" than those of the 1-35C. So it has been for Papa Sierra and so it is now for Kilo Whiskey.

Papa Sierra launches first at 12:15 P.M., quickly climbing to about 5.5K' in the vicinity of the airport. This indicates that a very good day is developing, beneath a thin veil of scattered cirrus mostly to the southwest and very occasional small, fast dissipating cu. Wind on the ground is from the north, about 10+ mph, and winds aloft seem to be from the NW and stronger. Visibility is superb on this beautiful mid-spring day. The skies have been scrubbed of all dust and haze by the passage of a cold front two days before. From the air can be seen a vernal panoply stretching in every direction - brown, newly cultivated fields, awaiting planting, intermixed with the lush green fields of winter wheat and barley ready for harvesting. The green and brown patches are typically bordered by lines of trees showing the lime tint of their emerging summer foliage. Soaking in the beauty all about, Papa Sierra truly knows that "Life is good!"

Kilo Whiskey takes off shortly thereafter. About half an hour later Papa Sierra links up with Kilo Whiskey climbing in a thermal just southeast of the south end of the Woodsboro blue stone gravel pit, approximately 7 miles north of the Frederick airport. Kilo Whiskey is slightly higher when Papa Sierra enters their first shared thermal at about 3.3K'. After making a successful rendezvous, Kilo Whiskey and Papa Sierra climb in strong thermals to about 6.2K' MSL. Several strong thermals issuing from the 5 mile long pit are sampled as they work their way north.

Communicating is very challenging. This is due to the intense amount of radio traffic associated with the usually heavy flight activity, over a listening range stretching several hundred miles up and down the east coast. It's the result of the exceptionally good weather and the many people of all types vying for the frequency. Despite communication challenges, Papa Sierra and Kilo Whiskey decide that the day calls for "boldness and a venturesome spirit."

They are working their way NW towards Fairfield, PA. Crossing the gap from the northern-most triangular pit heading for Emmitsburg, they encounter "broken thermals" not as strong as to the east. They each stop once for the other, as they swap off the lead, to allow the other to "tank up" in a thermal. It is apparent from several long runs at varying speeds that the ships have virtually identical performance.

Shortly thereafter an area of "mild sink" turns into an extended area of "strong sink" which they attempt to penetrate upwind using the classic MacCready speeds for their ships starting from about initially 5.5K' MSL indicated. En route they make several quarter mile long tacks attempting to get into "better air" as they proceed with no significant improvement being found. They are roughly at the vertex of an isosceles triangle whose base is the 23.5 statute mile line from Frederick to Fairfield, well east of the most direct line from Frederick to Fairfield. This is an area where the downwind, down slope, blow-off from the receding ridges to the west, can sometimes present challenges for crossing due to the presence of large bands of sink. At this point Papa Sierra is leading with Kilo Whiskey no more than 1/4-1/2 mile to the left and in trail.

They thump through a number of pockets of broken lift, none of which seems organized enough to stop for. As they break below 4K', still many miles downwind from the town of Emmitsburg, the question becomes: "Can they reach Emmitsburg, and the likely thermals anticipated there, or should they execute a 180 degree turn, go back downwind and 'retank up?'"

Safety of flight lies in the complex calculus of margins. There are margins for safety and margins for error. The soaring pilot is constantly assaying these margins. "Your height and your speed versus the distance you must travel. The expected performance of your glider. What the sky offers you versus your ability to accept and utilize it. Your expected performance versus that of another. What is safe for you may not be for another. What is safe for another may not be for you. What you could not safely do three years ago you may safely do now. It might be safe today, but not yesterday nor tomorrow." Papa Sierra and Kilo Whiskey have discussed none of this prior to the flight. Nor can they now, thanks to radio channel overload.

Papa Sierra wants to balance the margins, wants to give them both a fighting chance to climb out. The goal is "... to reach the objective and, ... maintain the flight." But, should that not be possible, he needs to provide them both with margins reasonable for each. Papa Sierra knows that Kilo Whiskey is similarly calculating the odds.

Papa Sierra and Kilo Whiskey press on. It is clear that the balance hangs delicately- in this non-refundable trade of altitude for distance. At about 2800' AGL it is still looking "very close" but the bet seems "a tad better than 50-50." Papa Sierra has often found useable thermals in past trips downwind of the Emmitsburg fire training academy. By now Papa Sierra and Kilo Whiskey are "heavily invested"; their best course now is to proceed. But they will have precious little currency to work with.

Kilo Whiskey now calls Papa Sierra noting that the altitude loss is becoming critical. Papa Sierra does not respond immediately but could not agree more fully.

...to be continued!

Reactivating

• Christopher (Chris) Burns

Spring is definitely here. As Carlos noted in his e-mail requesting Convector submissions, "Warm days, thermals, singing birds, Cherry blossoms, the May Convector" - and the return of speeding gliders! Dancing in between typical fickle early spring weather and the 10 NM TFR surrounding Camp David, the fearless task day pilots managed to get a task in March. They also managed to get two off in one weekend in April, but a rusty scorekeeper, changing rules and the ensuing confusion have prevented the scores from that task from being printed this month.

In the March task, Baude Litt (LBL) takes an early lead, winning the first task of the season with a speed of 45.78 mph. Mike Higgins (X6), almost like Baude's ever present shadow, follows with 850 points at a speed of 40.25. Val Brain (13) takes advantage of the fact that the Camp David TFR ends at 4, and lands at Fairfield for 343.5 points. Great start, guys! Looking for another great season!

[Our newsletter is read by soaring enthusiasts located far beyond our local soaring area. Jim Skydell, a soaring pilot from California, read Bob Ball's recent article and felt compelled to write. His letter and Bob's subsequent response are reprinted below. -Editor]

I recently read the March 2003 issue of Convector. In the first paragraph of your cover report, you encouraged any SSA member wanting more details of recent events to contact you. If it is not an imposition, as I am not in Region 4, I would appreciate your input on some questions.

You mention that Mr. Sanderson had been "slow in completing expense reports." Based on Mr. Short's SSA website piece, no expense reports were ever required of Mr. Sanderson. What reports did he file?

I recently researched chairmanship and membership of SSA committees on its website, and found all of the information out of date. Who served on the Administration and Finance Sub-committees in January 2002?

You state that there is "no issue of any money being missing." Who examined what documents to lead SSA leadership to this conclusion?

The Administrative and Finance Committees took corrective action regarding the Employee Receivable account over 18 months ago, without "widespread announcement." Would informing the entire Executive Committee and Board of Directors of such a problem and its corrective action have constituted a "widespread announcement?"

You feel such a way of correcting the Receivable account problem preserved "office staff morale." What was the general morale of the Hobbs office staff during 2002, and on what information is this opinion based?

In Dayton, a Board vote was strongly in favor of retaining Mr. Sanderson. I applaud your willingness to publicly state how and why you voted on this issue. Why did the ExComm accept his resignation one week later?

Other than the three month period during which Mr. Sanderson was to remain salaried and available for consultation, where on the SSA website are the "further details" you mention regarding his severance?

Thank you in advance for any light you can shed on these critical SSA issues and leadership actions.

I want to acknowledge receiving your well-articulated and well-thought out series of questions. I wonder if these same questions have been put to Cindy Brinkner and Jim Payne, but if not, are you agreeable for me to forward the set of questions to your own Directors?

The rigor of your questions might not be met with equal rigor in this response, but in cases where I respond weakly it may be because I myself am attempting to get a reasonably rigorous answer. In this whole matter I am guided by an (alleged) old Marine Corps proverb: never ascribe to malice what can be explained by stupidity. I still see no malice on anyone's part.

It is a presumption by me that expense reports were due as a matter of course, and that they must not have been prepared in a timely manner. I have not personally seen any expense reports.

I have to look into records to name members of Administration and Finance Sub-Committees in 2002, which I will do. Clearly Bill Sproull and Jim Short must have been members.

The matter of no money being owed is based on statements by several Directors at the recent Dayton Board meeting, which you sat in on at least in part. I note that an additional audit is in the works, out of which I suspect a rigorous answer as to what documents and who saw them can be given. Meanwhile if I can be more penetrating in a response I will forward one.

It is a borderline case whether informing the ExComm or the whole Board of Directors of SSA about corrective action would in fact be a widespread announcement. One could take either position.

The information that went into my opinions on "staff morale" came from discussion and comment at the recent Board meeting. There is no first-hand knowledge involved. It was clear to me that any Board member action to divulge sources of information given "in confidence" was hurtful to staff morale, and as things developed the confidences were destroyed.

I can only surmise that the ExComm accepted Larry's resignation out of consideration for Larry's wishes and in recognition of the vocal minority of SSA members who wanted him out. This is surmise, not fact. An ExComm member would have to be the source of better information.

Before directing you to "further details" on terms of Larry's severance on the SSA website, I have to scrub the site myself and that needs to be deferred a bit due to time constraints. I can say that some elements considered were use of e-mail, access to the office, continuity of discussions with U.S. government bodies, and representation or attendance at IGC meetings.

Based on e-mail messages, I still suggest that you draw out of Cindy Brickner and Jim Payne whatever you can on matters relating to the SSA Board actions. Hannes Linke, while not now a Director, is another person in your area who is likely to have some good information. Personally, I am more inclined to look forward to future events in the management of SSA.

	Frederick			Fairfield
Day	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD
03	Michael Higgins	Gene Wilburn	Jeffrey Fink	Gigi Gere	Buddy Denham	Scott Myers
04	Steven Silverman	Jan Steenblik		Peter Blacklin	Dee Torgerson
10	Mike Vance	Bob Andrew	Teresa Day	Jonathan Gere	John Hearn
11	Rob Myhre	Craig Moen		Mark Segall	Poul Hansen
17	Bob Whitehead	John Lovell		Laura Hession	Jim Trygg
18	Dan Meyer	William Judge		John Mitchell	Buddy Denham
24	Gary Miller	Gene Wilburn		Rick Fuller	Max Ullmann	Jean Compton
25	Peter Kern	Tom Judkins		Luis Fernandez	Pete Welles
26	Robert Dutilly	Scott Petrasek		Roger Andes	Lance Nuckolls
31	John Thornhill	Jane Robens	Zachary Thornhill	David MacVeigh	Don Robb

	Frederick			Fairfield
Day	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD
01	Dave Weber	Bob Ball	Ali Abrishami	Dave Leizer	Bill Savory	Robert Compton
07				Chris Burns	David Pixton	Fred Bane
08	Nathan Butler	Craig Moen	Ramon DeJesus	Kai Rasmussen	Rich Horigan
14	Jim Karcher	Hans Jorgensen	Steven Shelton	Jim Lewis	David Schober
15	Bill Donahoe	Robert Robins	Richard Latoff	Bob Schott	Chuck Forrester
21	Holland Ford	Sam Harry	Jeffrey Fink	Darrel Shiles	Bill Savory
22	Mitch Lambros	Jan Steenblik	Scott Myers	Jack Beavers	Phil Burgess
28	Tonas Kalil George Simms Jr	Bob Andrew Lance Nuckolls	Zachary Thornhill	George Burns	Buddy Denham	Teresa Day
29	Arlie Long Jr Wilmar Sick	Dee Torgerson Craig Moen		Mike Vore	Poul Hansen

	Frederick			Fairfield
Day	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD
04	Jay Dickhoff Pete Zawadzki	Ray Scarpulla	John Lovell	Christophe Blanchi Gyorgy Fekete	Jim Trygg	Mehrdad Bayat
05	Mario Piccagli Phil Scheel	Gene Wilburn Scott Petrasek		Mansoor Ahmed	Pete Welles
06	Bob Dutilly * Peter English	William Judge Tom Judkins		Chris Scarlett	Mike Grinder
12	Gary Goldberg	Bob Ball		Harry Bates	Don Robb
13	Michael Higgins	Jane Robens		Dave Leizer	David Pixton
19	Gerald McFadden	Hans Jorgensen	Robert Compton	Chris Burns	Rich Horigan	Ali Abrishami
20	Steven Shelton	Robert Robins		Sarah Macpherson	Bill Savory
26	Baude Litt	Sam Harry	Fred Bane	Gigi Gere	David Schober	Ramon DeJesus
27	Urs Thierstein	Jan Steenblik		Peter Blacklin	Bob Ball

M-ASA Duty Notes: Members assigned to operations duty must be on site in enough time to start operations by 10:00 AM 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 $100.00. 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.