Soaring News - July 2017

July has been our best month this soaring season for good soaring days and number of flights. Total flights this month was 134, total for the year is 359. Thanks much to great member support to our club, Instructors for most Saturdays and Sundays and our 4 tow pilots who burn a lot of fuel. Did you know that the Pawnee burns about 2.5 gallons of fuel for a 3000 ft. tow or 14-15 gallons per hour depending on weather conditions! ​ Last Saturday and Sunday was great soaring with 14 flights Saturday after a Board meeting and 5 flights Sunday with 9 hours club glider time and 7.5 hour for Steve Rusinowski in his beautiful ASW19. Bill Lynch did a little over 5 hours in the ASK21, Bill has been waiting for the right day for this flight, Sunday was the day! Congratulations Bill! The ASW15 has been a success so far with 7 members checked out to fly it. The takeoff is much easier than the Cirrus but does require left rudder at the start of the roll to compensate for the tow hook position on the left side of the cockpit. Due to this position, the glider will go right on the initial acceleration if left rudder is not used. The tail dolly is removed and installed best with nose weight to prevent damage to the tail section. I have revised the Operation tips for the ASW15 on inspection door, vario operation, landing gear, use of rudder, cruise performance and return hangar, see in the member only section. ​ The cruise performance numbers for the ASW15 also work for any other glider. Just add the percentage stall increase speed for a 30 degree of 45 degree bank to the minimum sink speed. A 45 degree bank provides best climb performance for most gliders but speed control must be maintained or no greater than 5 mph of the best climb speed. The turn radius increases with speed and positions the glider further from the core of the thermal. The K7 requires a hand held radio while we wait for our mechanic to install a new Becker Radio and antenna.