Soaring News - June 2021

This month has not been good for flights due to weather, 6 days were canceled which resulted in only 51 flights, a total of 198 for the season. The entire weekend last week was canceled due to weather, a stationary front over most of Michigan stayed for 5 days followed by other fronts. Weather for the first weekend of July is looking favorable.

There was a couple of good soaring days, one with Brandon Schultz and Mark Geudtner reaching 7200 feet in the K21 and Bob Kuehne 7000 in the k13. Another day, 3 gliders attempted some cross country flying, Brandon returned early in the K21, Matt flew 2 hours in the ASW15, North of Merillat and Bob Kuehne made it around the Proving Grounds Course in the G103, Merillat, Rossettie, Shamrock and return to Adrian.

Rain at the airport actually has a positive, since our well stopped working, a five-gallon pail is used to catch rain water and used for cleaning the bugs from club gliders and tow plane. Credit is given to Steve Rusinowski for this low-cost idea. Several one-gallon containers filled from the catch bucket are stored in the hangar, we have not had a problem keeping a supply of water.

The June 20 operation day was a send-off for Jared Staib with a group photo, Jared leaves our club for the Airforce Academy, good luck Jared! His last glider flight was in the K21 with Matt.

When removing the tie down nails from the tent post, don’t pull them out by pulling on a tent post, the bottoms are not strong enough to withstand the force required to pull the nails out. Use pliers located in the emergency kit box on the ops trailer.

We need to give recognition to Tom Neese who seems to get mostly windy turbulent days for towing and Vaughn Bateman for the most-rainy days that are usually canceled. We closed ops early 2 days this month due to gusty winds over 25 mph, one with Bateman towing included 40 mph wind aloft and wind shear on tow plus wind shear on final approach with a glider. Strong winds aloft usually are associated with wind shear that can get the pilots attention quick, if the K13 gets down wind in strong wind conditions, it may not make it back to the airport.

The glider altimeter settings will change several hundred feet during changes in pressure caused by the various weather fronts we have recently experienced. When resetting the altimeter, remember the small inside hand is the 10K pointer, the next size hand is the 1K pointer and the larger hand is the 100 feet pointer. When setting the large hand to 800 feet for our airport elevation, pay attention to the 1K pointer, it should be at 800 feet near 1K. If you get the setting wrong, wait until the glider is released from tow to reset the altimeter.

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: ?