Saturday
It was another windy day, with little soaring to be found. Even so, we had about 20 flights. Instructors were in demand for season checkouts and regular instructional flights. Luckily, there were plenty on hand including John Lawrence who is new to our club. John, welcome to the club!
I was SFO, Martin B. was FO, Rob Hall was Alt. FO. Martin & Rob did a great job and a lot of other members helped out as well. As SFO, I really appreciated it. Thanks!
About midday, Shawn arrived in the Pawnee with beautifully recovered and painted wings! Unfortunately, the plane needs to get a few more hours on its new cylinder before we can tow with it, but it looks great!
A team of members put together and tied-down our 1st new toy of the season, the 1-34.
Sunday
I arrived to see Rick R. pulling out the 1-34 for its first club flight. I intended to fly it right after him. However, I didn’t end up taking the plane up until about 4 hours later -- Rick took it up two more times, a short shower passed, then Jim David took it up. For once, this worked out for me. After hearing reports of really smooth air all day, and short flights to prove it, I was surprised to find lift all over the place on my flight. The predicted cold front was finally arriving at about 4:30pm in the afternoon. The lift was about 400-500 ft/minute in some areas where I circled, but everywhere else it was at 0-200 ft/min up so I was able to maintain altitude and even climb by just going straight. What a treat and a surprise!!! I’m sure that everyone will enjoy flying the 1-34. I found that it flies best when I let it fly itself (but that may depend on the pilot)! The only note of caution I have is that even though I flew with Rick’s 14lb parachute, I could not trim the plane for landing speed. I had to keep remembering to apply forward pressure to the stick throughout the pattern.
Renee
Saturday was supposed to be an OK day weather-wise, and it brought out lots of folks. It turned out to be a little bumpy aloft, with a fairly low cloudbase and a fair amount of crosswind. I took two instructed flights to get current since I hadn't flown since last season. I definitely had some cobwebs to shake out, but all in all everything went well. On the first flight we were in fair lift but we had to pop the spoilers because we didn't want to get too close to the clouds. The second flight was pretty calm, no big lift and no big sink.
One big thrill on Saturday was seeing the Pawnee out on the field with its newly recoated wings, with a snazzy new paint scheme. It'll be a lot more fun towing behind such a sharp looking plane, and Shawn reports that it flys better now that the wings have a smooth leading edge and new fabric. The Pawnee is back in Fitchburg getting a few minor things done. It also needs a little more break-in time before it will be towing, but I imagine that'll happen soon enough.
Sunday was a great student flying day. Too bad so few of my fellow students realized it! It doesn't have to be a soarable day to get a lot of good instruction. My best lessons have happened on non-soarable days. It's really great to have the option of back-to-back flights. It sure beats the heck out of waiting a few hours to get into a ship then either waiting a few more hours or not having even getting the chance for a second flight, just because it looks like a soarable day. Chances are you aren't going to soar anyway (it is a lesson, no?) yet you'll still wait around. I suppose I've made my point, but I was told that at 10 am there was a tow pilot, instructor, and FO, and no students. I arrived around 12:30 and took two solo flights. It was a nice day for flying because the air was smooth.
It was a big day for flying the 1-34. It flew right from the start of operations till the end, and all reports are that it's a really great ship to fly. As for me, I'm going to have to suppress my L/D envy till I make more progress on my FAA homework...
Dave Cherkus
I used to have enough monies to fly, den bought me an airplane and give the rest to the infernal revenuers tday, so got nutten to do but sit here and tell the rest o you hows to fly.
Bubba was very impressed when he flew with de big guy's dis winter. Them ol boy's no's dere numbers. You will notice a lot of engeneers, math perfessers, and CPA's at the top of our sport. The first two are the best, as they kin do fancy things with numbers. The CPA's, they can do their sum's and takeaways durn good, but when they git fancy, the fed's send them away to one of dem "Club Fed's", for a bit. Day reads a lots of books though, had hundreds of dem on his wall, called de U.S. Uniform Tax Code. I was thinkin they was Law's till he shows me the secret. Just like dat Santa fellow, it's a list of names and hows much they wants from you. You kin look me up if you want, volume 342, page 180, paragraph 3, seys "Bubba give dem all you gots left, and send another check whens you gits more".
Now Bubba aint the best dere has ever bin with dem numbers, but hell, I caint lerns hows to run thet Cambridge Navigation puter I gots either. Dont need it as I looks at de road maps, before I takes off and follows dem. Hell its easy, almost halfway from Disney World to the gliderport down here, ders one of dose big ol fourlanes, headin North. now headin west off of thet, right towards the gliderport, is county road 474. Now thet road is sactley 10 miles long, no's thet cause I drove out there for some exotic food one night, New York Pizza, ifn I members right. Follows thet road no problem, you gets home, look at thet Nav puter and all you sees is numbers and arrows, and CR474 aint one of dem. So's this navigating is easy, learn the big roads and where they goes.
These racin pilots are a ghoulish bunch a fellows, always talking bout "Final Glide". Now I's well read, and most every time I sees thet in Soaring, theys talking about a bunch o dead people. So's when I hear one of these guy's say on the radio, that he is on Final Glide, I think "Hell he's a good ol Boy, an I gonna miss him, specially since it's his turn to buy the beer tonight". But they kept on showin up with the beer, was drivin me crazy till I just had ta ask whet the hell they doin here when day posed to be dead. Turns out this Navputer thing tells dem when they gots nough altitude to fly home, and how fast to do it. Was figurin I gots screwed when I gots mine, cause mine never tells me nuttin. Noticed then, thet they all had L-Navs and I had an S-Nav, figured that L is for Lippy an S for Silent. You gets what you pays for, and I paid a whole bunch more for the Silent one, dont need no navputer thet dont know where CR474 is, tellin me how fast to fly.
Was hungry thet night I went for thet New York Pizza, so's I started watchin the clock, dont know why as you caint eat dem numbers, but did anyhow. Found out thet it took me sactly ten minutes goin 60 miles per hour to reach the end of the road. Figured that was aroun a mile a minute or so. Was also told thet my aeroplane went 44 miles fer every mile high I was high, so's one day when I was a mile high out at the fer end of CR474, I decided thet I was gonna do one o these Final Glide things. As most everybody else had, said dey was in the pattern, I figured thet ifn I was gonna get my share of the beer tonight I had better hurry up. 120 mph, should get me there in half the time, so's ifn I kin cut the time in half by adding 60 mph to my speed, I'll save me 5 minutes, hell I know's my numbers, ifn I add nother 60mph to thet 120 I kin cut that trip down to nuttin, I wonder if I add nother 5 mph ifn I can get there afore I leave. Dont quite knows where that 44 miles went, cause when I looks up sos I don miss the airport as it goes by, I'm dam dear doing an impression of a lawn dart right at the intersection of thet big ol fourlane and CR474, right were I started. Good thin that was right at the top of the Florida ridge, cause I sure did need that xtra altitude when I was flyin down thet hill. Kinda worried bout dem power poles, aside the road, as I was right on the road goin down thet hill, but needent a worried bout hittn them as the wings were standin up straighter'n dem poles. Guess I gonna have to git one o those lippy type navputers after all. So's now thet you know alls there is to know bout "Final Glide" dont ever do one, as that is not the page of Soaring that you want your name on. Less of course you are over a real high hill. Bubba
PS -- Bubba has a theory, figure that if you keep on reading this stuff that I write when I cant fly, I will have 100% of the club on their knees praying for good weekend soaring weather. Now while you could fly this weekend it was not good soaring, so at least half of you were doing your job. Now I know that a well run soaring club is a true communist affair, but I have checked the bylaws, and there is nothing against prayer in there. So you shirkers just have to catch up, does not have to be a complicated one, a simple "God give this idiot what he wants, Please". Let me hear an AMEN.