We've missed a lot of soaring because of bad weather this spring. Let's try to make up some of that. How does a long weekend sound to you? Not two days, not three days, but Ten Days Long! Yes, it's time to plan for our annual Ten-Day Weekend at Frederick, Friday June 27 thru Sunday July 6, your chance for flying fun.
This is all about soaring but as added attractions we will have two pre-scheduled cookouts, several morning classes, and event tee-shirts. The first cookout is Sunday June 29, noon through suppertime. This is Caroline Baker's annual behind-the-shade-canopy feast. The second cookout will be on Friday the fourth, courtesy of Elizabeth Judkins et al. Stay for this, and then watch Frederick's fireworks from the balcony.
Class dates are to be determined; times, 9 or 9:30 a.m. - to finish in time for soaring. Lance Nuckolls' class will be a Sat. or Sun., on 'Do You Have a Plan B'? This is an interactive presentation regarding an alternate plan of action (Plan B) in case things don't go according to the original plan (Plan A). David Schober's topic is TBD but last year he taught us about basic thermalling techniques. Bill Whelan will teach us about BLIPS. We will learn how to find, read, and apply the BLIP charts which can give us soaring weather information. Bill will also do a second class called 'Introduction to Cross-Country Soaring'. Watch the bulletin board for more details on topics and dates for classes.
For those who've never attended a Ten-Day, there is no registration fee, no cost beyond normal club flight charges, cookouts, and event tee shirts if you choose to buy them. Come all ten days, come one day - whatever you can. Some members commute, some stay over at the clubroom, some even take a room in town.
Let's make up some of those lost soaring days!
P.S. We do need some help, especially a volunteer OD each of the five weekdays not covered in the M-ASA schedule. Call or e-mail George Simms at 202-723-1549 or gsimms2@hotmail.com if you can help a day.
It is hard to believe another month has gone by. Time is really flying. Unfortunately it seems to be the only thing flying. Once again I would have liked to be writing about the finalized agreement allowing us to operate from Fairfield when the President is at Camp David. This agreement continues to prove elusive.
Last week I met with an Air Force Colonel regarding our situation. The meeting went very well and he has a much better understanding of our operation. He is now working with the Northeast Air Defense Sector to integrate our operation into their tasking. Tomorrow I will leave work early to participate in three meetings on Capitol Hill. I can't guarantee any level of success from these types of meetings but we are sure getting our message out and at least I am still finding folks interested in listening. In the meantime, let's hope the President's schedule keeps him away from Camp David on the weekends and maybe the weather pattern will change so we don't see so much rain on the weekends.
AOPA has also agreed to make a pitch on our behalf to the TSA. Following their foolish endorsement of the 10 NM TFR Phil Boyer received a letter from the SSA Chairman Jim Short. As a result AOPA has written a letter requesting the TSA to support the M-ASA waiver we have been working on. We don't know yet the effect their help will have but I doubt it will hurt us.
A couple of weeks ago I managed to get out a short e-mail letting everyone know about some of our tow plane misfortunes. 09P is back flying with a new cylinder. We are still breaking the cylinder in and the forecast rain for the holiday weekend will most likely preclude any towing with the ship. Immediately after Memorial Day, it will be again taken out of service for the annual inspection. This is only expected to last the week so if we have any luck it will be back in service without missing an operational day. 58L is still sitting at York awaiting our decision regarding an engine overhaul or replacement. Jim Chick has collected information about the options available to us and the Board of Directors is looking at the various ways we might finance the work.
Despite the wet weather and the temporary flight restriction we did manage to get some good news from Fairfield. On May 19, Arlie Long and George Constantin completed their glider ratings by passing flight tests with Joe Notarian. This is an additional rating for Arlie. George is now the proud holder of a brand new pilot certificate.
At the annual meeting we introduced the new M-ASA Operations Manual. This manual has been posted on the web site since the meeting. Recently I heard a couple of folks were having trouble accessing the PDF file. It appears the older versions of Adobe's Acrobat Reader may not be compatible with files generated by the newer software. The solution is to upgrade the reader software on your computer. This is a free upgrade and Alan Meyer has provided a link on our web site to facilitate the download. If you upgrade and continue to have a problem let me know.
Now for some breaking news. The Board of Directors has decided to advertise the ASK-13 for sale. An advertisement will be placed shortly. The goal is to begin the process of modernizing the M-ASA fleet and moving away from some of the more difficult maintenance projects. The ASK-13 has served M-ASA well through many decades.
Even more breaking news. On Sunday May 25 at Fairfield an incident occurred which has resulted in the ASK-13 being damaged and removed from service. The good news is that no one was injured. It is unclear however what will be done with the ASK-13 in the future. As is normally the case, the board of directors has requested an accident/incident investigation so we might learn from this incident.FAA has also been notified and will also conduct an investigation.
Glenn
Wednesday April 23 was looking good. After trying without success several times over the past two years to fly my final leg of the Diamond Badge - the 500km distance flight - I was anxiously waiting for another good soaring day. The forecast showed a very powerful low over New England and a high over the Midwest that promised a strong ridge day. Forecasted winds at 3000' were NW at 35 knots. The only problem was the winds might be too strong to cross the Hagerstown valley and reach the ridge. It could be a tough day, but definitely worth a shot. So I scrambled to arrange a day of vacation, recruited my father out of retirement to crew, and made plans to fly from Fairfield.
Rich Horigan volunteered to do two tows - Chris O'Callaghan and me. Rick Fuller happened to be doing trailer maintenance that day and volunteered to act as official observer and OD. My declared task - Beavertown Tower, Lockings, a point near Schuykill AP and back for 538km - most of it on ridges. The biggest challenge would be to fly the 40 miles against a strong headwind to reach the ridge.
After a near ground loop on takeoff due to the high tail winds, I released about 3000' over Fairfield in turbulent thermals and rotor. Chris soon thermalled up and entered wave and climbed away. Fifteen minutes later I was finally able to thermal through 5000' and get into the smooth stuff myself. As I climbed up through 7000' facing NW, it was apparent the only way to make the 40 miles upwind was to fly the wave. There were a few cu's in the valley, but no cloud streets to lead the way. Trying to thermal across the valley against a 30-40kt headwind just wouldn't work, so I relaxed and wave climbed over Fairfield.
At 12,500' I thought that X6 had enough potential energy to dive halfway across the valley and pick up the next wave bar, so off I went. Flying about 90kts IAS I made it to a promising looking cloud over Chambersburg before falling out of wave at about 7,000'. Pulling under the cloud and into a strong thermal quickly had me at cloudbase again. Pushing again to the NW, once out from under the cloud, there was a sudden surge and I was in 9kts of wave lift! It took only a minute to climb up the face of the cloud and a few more minutes to reach 10,600'. Then time again to dive upwind.
The climb over Chambersburg resulted in enough altitude to safely clear the Beavertown ridge crest. I thought the toughest part of the flight was over. However, dropping down toward the trees, it became the roughest ridge ride I've ever had. I was tucked down in the cockpit with the shoulder straps as tight as I could get them, but the wind turbulence was delivering bone (and fiberglass) jarring hits every few seconds. The lower I flew and closer to the ridge I got, the worse it was. Experimenting with different altitudes and speeds, I finally settled on about 80 kts IAS about 500' or so above the ridge top. I would have liked to push lower and faster, but just couldn't take the beating. It wasn't my 44 year-old bones that I was concerned about as much as the 27 year-old Schleicher fiberglass.
After turning Beavertown Tower and heading back SW, things were looking good. Crossing the valley in wave took longer than expected, and I was now running about an hour behind my time baseline, but the day was strong. I was confident the task could be completed.
That's when the flight started to come apart. Approaching Lockings, I was interrupted by a couple of beeps and was surprised to see a low-voltage alarm on two instruments. I thought OK, no problem, I've been flying for over 3 hours, I'll just switch to the backup battery. A few minutes after switching, another low-voltage alarm! I couldn't believe that I was losing electrical power after all the work to get this far. The MNAV dropped out (it's always the first to go when voltage drops), and then the Volkslogger GPS logger started acting strange. After rounding Lockings, I turned off all electrical loads except for the Volkslogger, hoping to still salvage the task. Over the course of the next 20 minutes, I watched the voltage slowly drop from 8.5v to 7.8v. I still had about 2 hours to fly to complete the task. After mulling it over a few minutes, I decided to call it a day. Trying to get home late in the day with a dead GPS and no variometer wouldn't be much fun. I had a great flight (other than getting beat up), but this just wasn't to be the Diamond Distance day, again.
NE of Burnt Cabins, I pulled up off the ridge into a 5kt thermal and quickly climbed to over 7,000' and was on final glide to Fairfield. The 35kt tail wind makes coming back easy. At home that evening and looking closer at my batteries, sure enough, the backup battery was bad and charger questionable. I've been charging and flying with the battery for years, but rarely draw power from it. Curiously, with the very low voltage, the GPS logger continued to record lat/long, but the pressure altimeter reading and baro log dropped out.
So, that was it for yet another attempt at 500km. Yes - I've already bought a new battery and charger. I went with the high-end German Dry-Fit batteries this time. Something else might foil my next 500k attempt, but it won't be batteries.
A chart of Mike's flight.
A barograph trace of the flight.
Three months into the soaring season, Jonathan Gere (34), Danny Brotto (P6), Christophe Blanchi (A2), Cathy Williams (I think, though I have been wrong before), John Hearn (T1) and George Burns (T8) join Baude Litt (LBL), Val Brain (13) and Michael Higgins (X6) for five tasks in two months (six tasks total this year). The weather and the TFR cooperate for two weekends in April and one weekend (so far) in May, and the scorekeeper begins to lose her rust.
Jonathan wins his first task this month to come in second with 2881 points to Baude's 4566 points. Val rounds out the top three with 2334 points. The spring weather has turned cold and rainy, but hopefully summer will bring the return of fair weather for the task day pilots.
| LBL | 34 | 13 | X6 | P6 | A2 | CL | T1 | T8 | |
| Mar-23 | 1000 | 0 | 344 | 850 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr-12 | 1000 | 968 | 238 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr-13 | 1000 | 0 | 0 | 900 | 0 | 589 | 47 | 0 | 212 |
| Apr-27 | 0 | 1000 | 752 | 0 | 789 | 0 | 719 | 727 | 497 |
| May-3 | 566 | 0 | 1000 | 444 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May-4 | 1000 | 913 | 0 | 0 | 909 | 775 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 4566 | 2881 | 2334 | 2193 | 1698 | 1364 | 766 | 727 | 709 |
I recently had the opportunity to spend a day sightseeing in Tucson, Arizona. Being an aviation buff, I decided to do the Tucson "aviation trifecta". First, I went to the Pima Air and Space Museum (www.pimaair.org), the world's largest privately-funded aerospace museum. Then I went to the AMARC (Aerospace Maint. and Regen. Center) Facility (www.dm.af.mil/AMARC and www.amarcexperience.com), an aerospace storage and maintenance facility containing close to 5,000 aircraft worth some $27 billion. Finally, I stopped by the Titan Missile Museum, home to the largest ICBM ever made by the United States.
I know what you're thinking. "Poor Carlos. He must be really desperate for contents. This has nothing to do with gliders." But you'd be partially wrong! I am desperate for contents, but guess what I found nestled among the power planes at the Pima Museum?
A Scheibe III B Zugvogel (Migratory Bird) glider! It looks like a very sleek version of the Ka-7. It is built similarly with a wood wing and steel-tube fuselage with fiberglass nose cover. A 17m single seater with an L/D of 37, this is one good looking ship. In the mid-sixties one of these beauties was used to set several U.S. feminine records, including a distance flight of 305.84 miles.
So if you ever find yourself in Tucson, stop by and say hi to the Zugvogel for me, will ya?
A new gliderport opened in 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. 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. It is also a great field to incorporate into your badge and record flying routes.
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SOARING ASSOCIATION Board of Directors:
Officers:
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New: FOR SALE: 1/2 Share in Rolladen-Schneider LS6-a 1164TT. Komet trailer at Fairfield. ILEC SB-8 vario/speed to fly, Sage mech. vario, oxygen, Cambridge GPS-NAV. Flight computer. Contact John Mitchell 301-437-4409 or jminmd@yahoo.com FOR SALE : 1982 Ventus B. Metal Spindleberger Cobra trailer, foam insulated 22 cubic ft. oxygen bottle with Hammon regulator. Wing covers. 598.5 hours. Instrumentation includes: Winter vario, Cambridge CNAV, 2 Cambridge varios, Dittel model ATR 720 comm, boom mike. Excellent condition. $42,000 OBO. Contact the U.S. Soaring Museum at P. O. Box 3626, Moriarty, NM 87035 or 505-832-9222. Can also contact George Applebay at 505-832-0755 (work) or 505-296-8697 (home).Repeat: FOR SALE: Schleicher ASW-20. 1056 TT. NDH. Komet trailer, new National parachute, tow out gear, water bags, flight computer, fresh annual. Move forces sale - best offer. For detailed info, creyes123@yahoo.com or 301-564-4340 FOR SALE: PIK-20, Hotel Lima for sale. In great shape with a fresh annual, good trailer and easy assembly. Dittel radio, Cambridge speed director, netto. $19K. Jim Furlong (703) 455-2439 or jfurlong@piglet.toward.com |
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New Members
Member Reactivating
Provisional Notes Due
The following are completing their provisional year with M-ASA and should send the membership chairman a note/e-mail requesting permanent membership.
Overdue
Overdue
News flash! Gary Goldberg did his first glider solo at Frederick on May 4.
Photo of (Left to Right) Arlie Long, Joe Notarian, George Constantin, and Scott Petrasek
Some of the duty assignments previously published have been modified. Please review this schedule carefully! Some changes are marked with an *asterisk
| 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 | Phil Scheel* | 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 |
Sam Harry* Lance Nuckolls |
Zachary Thornhill | George Burns | Buddy Denham | Teresa Day |
| 29 | Arlie Long Jr Wilmar Sick |
Dee Torgerson Craig Moen |
Mike Vore | Poul Hansen | ||
Note: * indicates change from printed Convector
| 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 | |
| 05 | Mario Piccagli Phil Scheel |
Gene Wilburn Scott Petrasek |
Mehrdad Bayat* | Pete Welles | ||
| 06 | Michael Hearn Peter English |
William Judge Tom Judkins |
Chris Scarlett | Mike Grinder | ||
| 12 | Gary Goldberg | Bob Ball | Harry Bates | Don Robb | ||
| 13 | Michael Higgins | Jane Robens | Fred Bane* | 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 | Gigi Gere | David Schober | Ramon DeJesus | |
| 27 | Urs Thierstein | Jan Steenblik | Peter Blacklin | Bob Ball | ||
| Frederick | Fairfield | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
Operations Director |
Tow Pilot | Assistant OD |
| 02 | Jim Furlong | Bob Jackson | Aurel Trandafir | Harry LaBrie | Mike Smith | |
| 03 | Ralph Wentzel | Bob Andrew | Laura Hession | Jim Chick | ||
| 09 | Maurice Deland | Craig Moen | Jonathan Gere | John Hearn | Jeffrey Fink | |
| 10 | David A Churchill | Lance Nuckolls | John Mitchell | Chuck Forrester | ||
| 16 | Kai Rasmussen Jim Lewis |
Phil Burgess Buddy Denham |
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| 17 | Richard Latoff Bob Schott |
Mike Smith Bob Jackson |
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| 23 | Mark Carlisle | Dee Torgerson | Darrel Shiles | Jim Chick | John Lovell | |
| 24 | John Allingham | Ray Scarpulla | Jack Beavers | Poul Hansen | ||
| 30 | Jim Furlong | Craig Moen | Harry LaBrie | John Hearn | ||
| 31 | Dick Mott | William Judge | Mike Vore | Jim Trygg | ||
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.
