Soaring News - June 2020
Photo Credit; Susumu Morito
After a delayed club operation opening on May 23, the club is doing well with good support from members. We did 45 flights during the last 2 weeks of May and 92 flights in June. Thanks to all who are wearing masks and keeping the distance rules to reduce our risk of the COVID 19 Virus. Since the FBO building is still closed to the public, the club has provided a portable toilet for our members use.
The Goggle calendar is updated at the beginning of each week. For July Operations, Vaughn Bateman is towing Wednesdays and Dino instructing the 8 th and 22 nd . Rick is instructing all Saturdays with Neese towing and Matt is instructing Sundays with Shipp towing. Hope the weather cooperates, the first week of July looks good. June was full of various activities; Brandon Schultz made a pass over RW11 in a North American T6 followed by another pass in a Stearman, Nate Kemppainen made a short cross country flight to Blissfield with Shipp’s assistance, Ludwik Lembryk soloed in the K13, 3 members are checked out to fly the G103 and Matt Schultz can check out other members. Mark Geudtner is getting checked out in the K21 and did a short cross-country with Matt last Sunday.
A key to cross country success is to improve your skill in entering and exiting a thermal, maintaining speed control and be able to maintain good speed control in steep banks of at least 45 degrees, steeper at low altitudes. The thermal speed should be between minimum sink and best L/D or just above stall speed for a given bank angle. You most likely will fly out of a thermal if the entry is not smooth, hesitate too long to turn into the thermal, speed too fast, bank angle not steep enough or stall. If approaching a stall, relieve just enough pressure on the stick to recover, don’t dive to recover. For example, the turn radius at 40 mph and 30 degree bank is 185 feet, at 45 degree bank 107 feet, if you increase speed to 60 mph the radius at a 30 degree bank is 417 feet and 240 feet at 45 degree bank. So, bank angle and speed are very important in gaining altitude in a thermal, some thermals at low altitude are less than 500 feet in diameter and require a 45 degree bank most of the time and a 60 degree bank may be required to stay in the thermal core. Bank angle can be reduced and climb performance increased as altitude is gained due larger diameter thermals.
Warner Summer’s Daughter delivered a folder of documents to the club that include news articles of Joe Volmar learning to fly gliders in Germany, Ed Knight taking a glider ride with Jim Vincze. Ed Knight helped with founding the Toledo Glider Club in 1934 and was renamed the Adrian Soaring Club and moved to Adrian in 1962. Another article of Harold Jost being an ASC volunteer instructor, he was a former Airforce Colonel. The folder also includes copies of a 1967 legal deed document to transfer the Adrian Airport from the City owned airport to Lenawee County for a fee of $1.00 and reserves the right of the Adrian Soaring Club to operate from the airport. Some great history, I will put the folder in the hangar book cabinet. We also had a 1980 member Charles (Chuck) Botzko visit the club, Chuck designed and completed a wing modification on the HP glider to improve performance.
Some pilots are observed diving upon release of the tow rope, there is no reason to dive since you are already flying about twice the stall speed on tow. You should make a level right turn or slightly climbing turn while observing distance separation from the tow plane. Make sure you have released the tow rope before turning.
Who invented the Yaw String used on our glider canopies? It was invented by Wilbur Wright in 1902, some things never change.
When turning from base to final keep your aim point on target, nose down and speed up. Outside rudder is OK but inside rudder is a control position for spin training.
Tom Shipp.
