Soaring News - April 2021

Our club opening day was Sunday April 4 instead of the planned Saturday April 3 due to weather. Total flights this month was 57 with 6 cancellations due to weather, 3 of the 4 Wednesday operations were canceled. Not a good season start but better than last year’s May 23 start due to the Corona Virus which we still need to protect ourselves from. We had 3 really great soaring days with Matt Schultz and Jared Staib reaching 7K altitude in the K13, Steve Rusinowski completed a 2 hour cross country and Susumu Morita and Ludwik Lembryk completing the Proving Grounds 26 mile short course around the airport in the K21. The club purchased the Proving Grounds software to help members gain skills in glider cross country flying (Thanks Bob Kuehne).

Congratulations to Jared Staib who was approved for the Airforce Academy and will start June this year. Good luck Jared! Brandon Schultz has been busy flying a Cessna Citation CJ3, his flight trace during April covered most of the East Coast. He did a few tows and glider flights this month, we sprayed some jet fuel in each to make him feel more at home even though he says he is at home in the Pawnee.

Since the FBO is still closed during weekends due to the Corona Virus, the club has provided a Porta Potty for club members, it is located across from the club hangar. The new ICOM A16 hand held radios are working great, they will hold a charge for a complete day of operations and require only 1.5 hours to recharge. At turn on, frequency 122.800 is displayed, for AWOS 118.375 push the MR button and return back to 122.800 by pushing the CR button. At the end of the day, make sure the radios are in the cradle slot for charging.

A new rope storage box for the Ops trailer was purchased by Rick Clark and installed by Matt Schultz, thanks much, a very sturdy installation. Be careful not to turn steep while driving forward or backing, the box can be damaged if it makes contact with the rear of the Ops Cart.

Members who fly back seat of our 2 seat gliders should use adequate cushions to position your head up near the inside of the canopy to be able to see the tow plane around the front seat passenger. If you are sitting too low and get out of position in a thermal you will lose site of the tow plane quicker than sitting higher. If you lose site of the tow plane you should release and make radio contact with the tow plane that you have released. If you get out of position such that you are turning the tow plane, you should release, especially at low altitude.

When flying the K21 with a passenger, the rear canopy should be closed first due to the position of the canopy interlock system.

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. Pay attention to speed, the SSA accident reporting shows most accidents are during the landing phase.

Tom Shipp.

Photo Credit: Brandon Schultz