Soaring News - July 2021
The club did 89 flights this month compared to 52 in June, total flights for the season is 287. Shipp completed a projection for the remainder of the season that shows that we need an average of 51 flights a month to break even in revenue. This projection was based on the last year projection of 480 flights to break even, this projection was fairly close. The club did 553 flights last year.
A couple of things could affect our remaining season flights, airport construction starting after August 22 and lower than normal student training flights. Watch for airport NOTAMS and club communications during the construction, tow pilots should communicate with Skywalker Flying before each operation on runway usage. We expect most of the traffic using the grass runways will be Skywalker Flying and the Adrian Soaring Club. Students are encouraged to fly often to reduce retraining on prior skills learned.
The ASK13 has the highest usage with 140 flights this season followed by the ASK21 with 95 flights. Members are encouraged to get checked out in the ASK7, Grob 103 and ASW15. The ASK7 is a great solo glider for short cross countries since it climbs better than the ASK21 and G103. The ASW15 will put a smile on your face with its excellent climb rate and glide performance. You need to be proficient in the ASK21 which prepares you to fly the
ASW15.
The club has lost 2 students, Jared Staib to the Airforce Academy in June and Cameron Kemppainen to Purdue University in August. Good luck to both of you and thanks for being a club glider student!
The highlight of the month was Tom Shipp receiving the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award presented by Pat Ryan and Don Brown from the FAA during a club cookout at the end of a Sunday operations. The award is based on a minimum of 50 years of accident-free flying and contribution to promoting aviation. Tom holds Private, Commercial, instrument and glider ratings with 950 glider flights, all but 2 glider award badges and close to 11,000 glider tows. Tom has been marketing his award to anyone he can find to remain on cloud 9, this is the Grand Daddy of aviation awards. A huge thanks to Steve Rusinowski for coordinating this event.
Refer to the article in General Aviation News and The Eagle.
During our July Board meeting with discussions on safety, Rick Clark recommended that club members take a mid-season check flight to brush off any bad habits, Tom Shipp and Bill Lynch have accepted his idea. Other rated club members are encouraged to take a flight with an instructor. For my flight, Rick pointed out that I didn’t correct enough for the cross wind during takeoff, he was right and I learned from his input.
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.
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