Convector
Newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association

The biggest news since last month's article on our upcoming Oktoberfest is that M-ASA received final approval for the implementation of the TFR waiver. The waiver is now operational, i.e., it's available for our use when we need it. This ensures that we will be able to fly from our Mid-Atlantic Soaring Center regardless of President Bush's presence at Camp David. We have used the waiver several times since it was approved, and pilot feedback has been very positive and the operations have run very smoothly. If the TFR goes into effect anytime during the Oktoberfest, all pilots (glider and tow plane, M-ASA member or guest pilot) who want to fly must be on the approved list. The OD at Fairfield will have an up-to-date list of pilots who have been reviewed and approved by the Secret Service. If you have not already requested approval (you'll recall that we gathered names and the necessary personal info at our annual meeting last March) and you want to fly at Oktoberfest, please give your name (with middle initial), date of birth, and social security number to me and I'll forward it through the appropriate channels. If you're not sure whether you previously submitted your name, check the list at either airfield or contact Glenn Collins or me and we'll check. I'm not sure about the turnaround time on this, so if you didn't take my hint in last month's Convector, it may or may not be too late by the time you read this.

Everyone in M-ASA, their families, and friends of M-ASA are invited to Oktoberfest. The main activities will be task flying, vintage glider rides, local flying, and lots of good eating and socializing. Feel free to come for the whole three days, one day, or just stop by for dinner. Saturday evening will be a Bratwurst Potluck Dinner starting around 5:30 p.m. The cost is $5 or $6 (I'm still fine-tuning my budget), and includes bratwurst, beer, soft drinks, table settings, and grills. Please bring other food items according to the first letter of your last name per the listing below. Feel free to change your assignment if you want. Sunny Ray's market in Fairfield is a good place to go if you wish to purchase after arrival.

• A-H: salad, vegetable, or fruit for 10-15
• I-N: main dish or meat to grill for 8 (this is for those who don't want bratwurst)
• O-R: rolls or bread for 20
• S-Z: dessert for 10

Sunday we're planning to hold a family cookout near the gazebo/picnic table/flightline for lunch, from roughly 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We'll have a couple of grills going with hamburgers, hot dogs, and whatever plus lots of other food and drinks to go with it. The charge for this will be $5.

We will have commemorative t-shirts and sweat shirts for sale at $15 and $20, respectively. As always, an extra helping hand or two would be appreciated to help set up and clean up after the cookouts, to help sell t-shirts and cookout tickets, and run the grills. Please let me know if you are willing and able to lend a hand with any of this.

Let's hope (and pray) that the weather gods will be kind to us at this year's Oktoberfest!

You would think that after so many months of pleading for patience I would be better prepared to write about our success in securing a waiver to fly from Fairfield when the Presidential TFR is in force. Despite those countless delays, I find myself speechless. As of this writing, M-ASA has operated three flying days using our waiver. None of the days saw a whole lot of activity but we managed to launch and recover gliders without incidents. To many, the concept of flying under the waiver and needing to follow prescribed procedures seems intimidating. In practice, however, I think we are finding the process relatively straightforward and not all that complex. The initial start up is the most difficult. Thanks to the efforts of Rick Fuller, there is a waiver procedures book in the Fairfield clubhouse. In it the OD will find everything he needs to run the daily operation. Rick and I are reviewing this book weekly and will update it as needed. We began the process very conservatively and already we are seeing opportunities to simplify some of the initial phone calls we advocated. Last weekend we saw positive communication between the various Federal agencies so we might soon reduce some of the phone calls we were making to ensure the communication had taken place. My goal is to be able to start the operation with a single phone call by the spring. That's enough about the waiver for now. We have spent the better part of the year talking about it. Now it is up to us to get out and enjoy the remaining season and grow this opportunity to our advantage.

In a recent e-mail, I whined about the number of members who have missed the recent club meeting and failed to complete the make-up. I cannot stress enough the importance of this makeup due to the board decision that all members who missed this meeting are grounded until it is made up. Regrettably, when a decision is made to warrant grounding the makeup must be conducted in a manner to justify that action. To accomplish this, a limited number of members have been authorized to conduct the makeup sessions. These are the club's officers. What happens when this is done is that those conducting the sessions are essentially requested to set aside their own activities to conduct makeup sessions for those who missed the meeting. Worse yet is the inadvertent lack of concern some stumble into when requesting a makeup without any prior planning. I know I have left a few folks less than happy as I completed a makeup session only to be asked to conduct a personal one later that day. Sorry folks, we all joined M-ASA to fly and I too would like to keep my hand in the game. I will however gladly conduct a makeup session for anyone needing one. My rules however require that you call me (e-mail works) in advance. I can conduct these on Saturday mornings, however the third Saturday I normally hold a BFR ground school and will give that priority. The makeup is best when we can have multiple folks involved so a good exchange of ideas occurs. I want at least two but prefer three folks to make it worth my effort. The accompanying listing is the best data I have at the house as to who needs the makeup. An up to date listing is kept on each of the OD boards. The bottom line is you know if you were at the meeting. If you missed it you are grounded. Find a few others on the list, make some calls, and then call me. We can then clear this up and return you to flight status.

As a final note, I want to congratulate Mark Mercer on his recent completion of his Commercial Glider rating and George Simms who completed his CFI-G just today.

Glenn

SSA's 2004 convention will be held in Atlanta, GA, February 5-7, 2004.

Are you interested in attending? Last year a good many M-ASA members attended the convention in Dayton, Ohio and a number of us were surprised to see so many of our fellow club members in attendance. With the convention on the east coast this year, the possibility of another good M-ASA turnout is high. The suggestion has been made that we should try to block out some rooms at the convention hotel and, using the power of our numbers, to negotiate with the hotel for a free hospitality room for the use of our club members. What a great place to meet with our fellow club members and folks from other clubs as well.

If you are seriously considering attending the SSA Convention, email or call Gary Baker and let him know. When the convention hotels are identified he will begin negotiations with the hotel for a free hospitality room.

NUMBERS COUNT!

I was asked about the pros and cons of ELTs (Electronic Locator Transmitters) at the annual M-ASA Safety Meeting in March. I managed to blurt out a barely adequate response and to survey ELT users in attendance on issues such as cost and the chance of being located. I decided to dig a bit deeper and found that the technology for locating downed pilots, lost hunters, and missing hikers is in the middle of a significant technology enhancement.

The international COSPAS-SARSAT Program announced recently that it will terminate processing of distress signals from 121.5 and 243 MHz (military-only) emergency beacons at some undetermined time in the future. The U.S. Coast Guard has taken the lead in the United States for transitioning to the new technology using 406 MHz that is vastly superior to the 121.5/243 MHz systems due, in part, to the greatly reduced false alarm rate. As of 1 July 2003 you can purchase a pocket size PLB in the U.S. that will be received from anywhere on planet Earth; be located more accurately and more quickly; and rescue forces will know it's you and your aircraft in distress. Being small and portable, you can also use it during bear hunting season.

Here's how they work. 406 MHz PLBs have a unique identification code (UIC) that is linked to user-provided information about you and your aircraft (or boat, etc.) through a national registry. This virtually eliminates non-beacon false alarms. Unlike the 121.5/243 MHz analog systems, a geostationary SARSAT satellite will receive a digital signal as soon as it's activated and determine a very accurate location 95% of the time. The old system would take up to two hours and up to two passes by a polar orbiting satellite to arrive over head. Some 406 MHz systems can be connected to GPS navigation systems and will provide location accuracies of 100 meters or better. See the attached comparison table.

PLBs have a 24-hour minimum operating life once activated. The U.S. has added the requirement for a low-power 121.5 MHz morse-coded signal to assist rescuers with existing homing equipment. The analog code helps searchers distinguish a PLB from older ELTs. One drawback of the portable units is that they are manually operated, lacking a G-initiated activation switch featured in installed ELTs. Another consideration is that rescuers will locate you rather than your aircraft, but you must be capable of activating the unit.

If you would like find out more about Personal Locator Beacons, you can find more info at http://www.equipped.com. If you're an early adopter when it comes to survival gadgetry, an example of the new devices can be found at http://www.mypilotstore.com. Search for "PLB". Admittedly not cheap, prices now range from $500 to $700, but likely to come down as sales increase.

Still battling for first place, Jonathan Gere (34) and Baude Litt (LBL) trade places this month as Jonathan wins two tasks to take the lead with 6898 points. Baude Litt follows with 6840 points and Mike Higgins (X6) rounds out the top 3 with 6567 points. The scorekeeper dropped the ball a couple months ago (August) resulting in an erroneous report on the score as it stood and no scoresheet last month (sorry about that). Another note (sorry race fans): August 17th was dropped from this month due to bugs in the scoring. I hope to have it in next month's column.

This month, a returning competitor, David (HE?S BAAAAAACK!) Pixton (9X) flexes his . . . wings(?) . . . winning a task and scoring high on three others to land solidly behind Val in fifth place. Behind him, another stealth competitor, George Burns (T8), takes sixth. The Daring Discus Duo (Fuller/Williams Team? CL) joins us this month for four tasks, Christophe Blanchi (A2) and Danny Brotto (P6) each fly a task, John Hearn (T1) joins us for two and Bill Savory (9) flies three. What will happen next month? Find out, right here.

Many of you have already heard about the 1,100 home development proposed for the land adjacent to our property in Fairfield. It goes without saying - any development of this size so close to an airport can only spell trouble for the airport. All is not lost, however. Many club members with local interests rose to action as soon as this proposal became public. Similarly, Jim Trygg and Bob Jackson have represented M-ASA's official interest with both the developer and the local zoning committee.

As this situation matures, we will put out more information. Right now it is safe to say it is far from a done deal. Local opposition is widespread and fierce. The local residents have a lot to lose regarding their quality of life and the rural environment. To this end, they have formed a group called "Save Our Liberty". So far this group has been very effective. They have retained a very competent land use attorney and are putting up an effective fight. This however can not be done without a lot of moral and financial help. To cover expenses they are accepting donations and the M-ASA board encourages any M-ASA members interested to help in this fight.

We are still working out the details of the donation process. Since most of us are not known to the local community, it would probably be in M-ASA's best interest to collect checks from the willing members and then forward them to the group in bulk. That way the connection to our club is recognized. The board is looking for a volunteer to spearhead this collection effort. Once checks are collected we will most likely add a club check to the stack then forward the package to "Save Our Liberty." All we know at this point is that the checks will need to be made out to "Save Our Liberty". In the coming days and weeks we will gather additional information and make it available. Periodic e-mails will be a primary means, but we will also post maps of the proposed development in the club houses and publish Convector updates. We will also track down a mailing address for any members wishing to send checks directly to the "Save Our Liberty" effort without going through M-ASA.

More on this is promised.

The night before the CFIG exam I awoke between 2 and 3 a.m. with all sorts of Q & A's pertaining to what the CFIG test might entail. One of the last items I thought about before I fell back asleep was the acronym IMSAFE; you know the one you use to determine if you are safe to fly. Not Ill, not on Medication, not under Stress, free of Alcohol, not Fatigued and no Eating or nutritional problems.

I wondered if I was ready for the exam and thought up a new acronym, IMREADY. Not Ill, not on Medication, I've Read, no Eating or nutritional problems, no Alcohol, I'm not Dumb and lastly one that every pilot has thought about at some time while flying. Y am I doing this? Yes, it was worth it and I did pass.

My thanks to Jim Chick, Chuck Forrester and Rich Horigan for their help at the field. Thanks to Val Brain for the last check ride and special thanks to Lance Nuckolls for towing, putting up with me and preparing me. It's been fun.

Now that I've passed the exam, It's time to get a few students and really learn how to instruct and fly.

The sun has not smiled on our two traditional ten-day weekends this summer.

The September Ten-Day Weekend had worse weather than the July Ten-Day. But that wasn't the fault of the generous members who signed up to tow and OD. Thank you to tow pilots Hans Jorgensen, and to Dee Torgerson and Bob Jackson for two days each. Thanks also to volunteer ODs - Bob Andrew, George Simms, and John Thornhill. All showed up or called if there was any chance to fly. We had a few flights during the first three days then none Monday thru Thursday. The final Friday saw conditions improving with five or ten flights, 36 on the final Saturday.

Just maybe we can fool the fickle fates and get a week of flying weather if we don't call it a ten-day, or nine-day weekend.

If at first you don't succeed, fly, fly again. So we're scheduling Funday October 20 thru Flyday October 24 at Frederick. Note this is the final week before we lose Daylight Savings Time. (Note also that if you add the adjacent weekends, we'll have nine days to fly - 18th-26th.)

Plan to come and fly. Maybe we'll even find autumn wave. And - IF this works out weather-wise, we'll try again in November - the week of Veteran's Day. Gotta make up lost soaring from July and September!

1. (courtesy of "Soaring Pilot") There are two free flight balloons at 4,000 feet, AGL, both inline with the wind, but four miles apart. The wind is from 180 at 25 MPH. Additionally, there are two gliders with identical performance, flying at 50 MPH and starting at the same altitude. One is at balloon A (upwind), the other at balloon B (downwind). They each fly to the other balloon.

Which glider will lose the most altitude?

a) Glider A going to balloon B.

b) Glider B going to balloon A.

c) Can't compute an answer.

d) None of the above.

e) The altitude loss is the same for both.

2. You are in Miss Daisy in a booming thermal right over the Frederick hangar. You decide to liven up your CFIG's day and make your first solo flight memorable. You climb to 5,000 MSL and shoot straight out for the ridge at best L/D. Your plan is to turn around just as you cross the middle of the ridge. Do you have enough altitude to go and come back safely?

For answers, ask your CFIG!

New member:

• Daniel (Dan) Morris

	Frederick			Fairfield
Day	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD
04	Holland Ford	George Green	Mark Mercer	Luis Fernandez	Mike Smith
05	Mitch Lambros	Bob Andrew		Peter Kern	Max Ullmann
11	Tonas Kalil	Lance Nuckolls		George Simms Jr Wilmar Sick	Jim Chick David Schober
12	Arlie Long Jr	Bob Ball		Pete Zawadzki Gyorgy Fekete	Chuck Forrester Buddy Denham
13	Mehrdad Bayat	Ray Scarpulla		Baude Litt	Phil Burgess	Aurel Trandafir
18	Mario Piccagli	Craig Moen		Michael Hearn	John Hearn	Tom Davidson
19	Mansoor Ahmed	George Green		Chris Scarlett	Bob Jackson
25	Richard Wallis	Dee Torgerson		George Constantin	Poul Hansen
26	John Thornhill	William Judge		Robert Critchlow	Jim Trygg

	Frederick			Fairfield
Day	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD	Operations Director	Tow Pilot	Assistant OD
01	Peter English	Gene Wilburn	Nicholas Bonilla	Gary Goldberg	Pete Welles	Gerry Tighe
02	Roger Andes	Tom Judkins	Garry Calvalho	Roger Thompson	Mike Grinder
08	Harry Bates	Scott Petrasek		David MacVeigh	Don Robb
09	Michael Higgins	Jane Robens		Jean Compton	David Pixton
11	Jim Furlong	Hans Jorgensen		Scott Myers	Bill Savory
15	Robert Compton	Robert Robins		Ali Abrishami	Mike Smith
16	Ramon DeJesus	Jan Steenblik		Fred Bane	Max Ullmann
22	Harry LaBrie	Sam Harry		Aurel Trandafir	Rich Horigan	Mark Mercer
23	Tom Davidson	Bob Andrew		Steven Shelton	Jim Chick
29	Urs Thierstein	Lance Nuckolls		Chris O'Callaghan	George Green

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