I was SFO on Saturday. Thanks to Bill and Joao for allowing themselves to be drafted under varying degrees of protest as FOs. It was a busy day. We had substantial launch lines for most of the day due to a mechanical issue with the Pawnee (is it fixed yet?). Thanks to everyone for their patience. It was the first scheduled day of flight for the new Blanik L-23. It was quite a popular ship. There were lots of long flights by both club and private ships. Some that stuck in my head were two long flights back to back by Doug Smith and Jim David in their Pegasus, and a pair of simultaneous long flights by Bill Maxwell in 317 and Frank Spital in the 1-34 to close out the day. Also I recall a nice after action chat session on the patio outside the airport restaurant. We honored one of our distinguished club officers (not to name names, but he's the president) for successfully completing (edited - some large number greater than 29) trips around the sun. Thanks to Ritts et. al. for arranging the card, cake and a charming gift for the prez!
Dave Cherkus
I had some fun on Saturday and Tuesday in the new L-23. It flies great!!!
I was SFO on Sunday. Thanks to all of those in GBSC and MITSA who were ready to go in their glider when the tow plane arrived and to Joao G. (aka John) and Paul R. for being "acting field officers" on a hot day. This really made a big difference and allowed us to get in 29 GBSC flights with only one tow plane and an 11:00am start.
- Renee
Flying a declared task brings on a set of challenges and decisions not encountered when you take off and go wherever it looks good. Often course lines selected before the flight are just where the dreaded blue holes develop.
Arriving at Sterling on Saturday I was glad to see John Wren rigging his PW-5 and convinced him to fly a declared task with me. Finally I would get a chance to participate in something resembling the promise of the so-called "World Class". I had seen the SSA fun contest rules on the web. The fact that there is no limit to the number of turnpoints must have made an impression. I declared Brookline, Jaffrey, Keene, Orange, Southbridge with the start and finish at Sterling. Never mind that Jaffrey and Orange are almost directly on the course line and added almost nothing. The task was around 220 KM.
We got started and almost immediately I discovered that I could talk to everyone on the radio except John. Oh well, since we had decided the task ahead of time maybe we would be in sight from time to time and wave to each other. The run up to Brookline went easily. After a couple of low spots on the next leg we were together in the best thermal of the day at Mt. Monadnock. I could see the stretch from Keene to Orange would be difficult and I was glad John would be along to help mark the lift. But as I learned later John was having none of the big blue gap from Keene to the south. So I plodded along on my own as usual. It was slow going all the way to near Tanner-Hiller where a landing looked likely from 1100 feet AGL. Then the last part of the task was easy with honest clouds that had thermals under them.
Looking at the flight log I could see my foolishness in adding turnpoints that were almost on the course line. I had flown on the wrong side of Jaffrey and missed the sector by maybe 1/8 mile. Task incomplete.
Sunday looked like repeat weather and I declared the more sensible version of the same task; Brookline, Keene, Southbridge, return. Phil Gaisford reported better than expected conditions with 4-6 knot lift and 6,500 foot cloudbase. So I headed out of the gate rejecting the 2 and 3 knot thermals I found every couple of miles. That tactic just about landed me at Fitchburg. I never saw more than 3 knots until I had rounded Brookline and was above the ridge half way to Jaffrey. A 5 knotter there got me to cloudbase for the first time and convinced me to continue the task.
Some interesting conditions prevailed from there with several layers of clouds forming and none of them working at times. The occasional good thermal revived me after two more low sweaty saves. The wind was picking up out of the south and there was a gap in the clouds to get to the last turnpoint at Southbridge. It looked like there were active clouds at or just beyond the turnpoint and any weak thermal would get me home from there with the wind in my favor. So on I went landing at Southbridge like a lawn dart. No attempted save in dying lift, nothing, just completely stable air at 4:25! Task incomplete.
Mark Koepper PW-5 3K
A new arrival ! Juan Mandelbaum, Gerry Bell, Errol Drew, Mike Newman, and Dave Nadler have bought a Duo Discus! Gerry arrived back from picking it up in Michigan on Sunday morning.
What's a Duo Discus ? Here's a picture! This is a recent fiberglass two-seat glider with a 20-meter wingspan. It is remarkable for its extremely easy flying characteristics, and easy assembly and disassembly (we put it together each day and always store it in the trailer). This glider is used in many clubs in Europe and some in USA for primary training on through cross-country training and competition. In these clubs, basic training flights are conducted before and after peak soaring conditions, with XC soaring during the better part of the day. These gliders consequently get very high utilization, making it economically versatile. For XC, it has a measured 45:1 glide and good climb and high-speed performance, a bit better than the current standard class gliders. A lot has been learned in the 35 years between the Blanik design and the design of the Duo ! The Duo Discus won the AeroKourier "Aircraft of the Year" for its amazing versatility. And it is truly wonderful to fly, with very light controls, fast roll rate, and easy coordination (unlike earlier birds of this size).
Of course, there's a 2-3 year waiting list to get one. When Juan saw one for sale we jumped at the opportunity!
Sunday Dave and Mike had a nice 2:45 flight, cruising around locally and up to Jaffrey. Beautiful cu's with the lift rather disorganized low, and good under only some of the clouds even high up. Best lift was 7.5 knots higher up, but we took some 2.5 knotters down low. Watched the boaters - looked like a giant traffic jam on the lakes in southern NH. Lovely flight!
Monday, Gerry flew with Mike. Despite the unpromising skies, they had a nice two hour flight, finding strong lift up to 5 knots just south of the airport. Only one other GBSC flight on Monday, hardly anybody showed up!
Tuesday wasn't great soaring, but Juan got his check rides accomplished for the insurance company requirement. And, we got more practice with assembly and disassembly.
We'll be basing the Duo at Sterling and flying it as often as we can!
Dave Nadler
Saturday dawns beautiful. My crew has expressed willingness to come and get me anywhere between Sterling and Franconia. The TI Report indicates a good day. Not a great day, but maybe adequate to fly 130 miles cross-wind; my first attempt at a cross-country where I do not intend to return to the home airport. I didn't really expect this to feel as special as it does. Then again, I didn't expect it to be a succession of difficult challenges...
The first battle is to get launched in time. I have to organize three other ground tows just to keep my glider moving toward the launch line. With the help of those in front of me in line, and FO Bill Maxwell keeping the wolves at bay so I can focus on my XC checklist, I launch at 1 pm. Never underestimate the impact of a good FO on the safety and success of a flight: Bill's patience let me find and fix a misrouted water hose that would have caused a nasty distraction in the air.
Conditions are not great; Jim David leaves me in 4 knots of lift but it peters out at 4500 MSL. If I had launched an hour earlier it may have helped... or maybe I would be back at the end of the line waiting for a re-light.
There are better looking clouds over Leominster, but it takes 45 minutes to get to 5k under them. The bases are 1000 feet higher, but the lift is too weak to waste more time in.
A few miles south of Brookline, a more encouraging experience: a 5 knot thermal that doesn't peter out until 5200. The clouds look good North, so I try to tiptoe from cloud to cloud to Hawthorne, hoping for another 5 knot thermal. This does not work; I'm below 3000 AGL 5 miles west of the New Boston radomes. Clearly the day is going through cycles, and this one is declining. There's a sand pit and a freshly plowed field below me. My choices are (A) give up and run 10 miles NE to land at a small airport (B) find and work a thermal from the sand pit, or fail to and land in the nice plowed field. I didn't arrange a crew for nothing; I search for a thermal. I find it, it's scratchy, but 20 minutes later it firms up to 5 knots and I'm at 5.2 again. I've drifted 3 miles east in the process. No big deal; the day is working now. In 30 minutes I'm 3 miles from Hawthorne climbing at 6 knots to nearly 6k MSL.
The flight to Newfound Lake is nothing but pleasure: 6 knot lift every 5 miles, well marked, and some in-flight entertainment: a lone glider is trying to climb Mt. Kearsarge. There's a nice cloud above the mountain, but this fellow seems to be having a tough time. (Eventually he got to about 4.5 k, but well upwind of the mountain).
I get to 7200 MSL in a 6 knot thermal over a dry rocky area at about 4 pm, 10 miles S of Newfound Lake. Plymouth airport is just 22 miles, then another 30 or so to Franconia. Although Franconia's TI Report was not as promising as Sterling's, the truth is that things seem to be as good here as was predicted for Sterling, and it is right about the wind, which is from the WSW here and thus is helping me a bit.
Then I make the big mistake. There is a fork in the road, and I take the wrong one. I can go over the higher hills to the west of the lake, to the west of Plymouth airport - closer to the optimal course - or I can cross the lower third of the lake and go over the lower hills to the east. Discussing this with Bob Salvo before launch, I decided if I get this far I'll let the clouds tell me what to do. The clouds look much better on the right side.
Those clouds, they lie. I lose 2000 feet crossing 4 miserable miles of lake. There is only scattered weak lift on the far side. I arrive at the town of Plymouth at 3000 MSL. A weak thermal takes me to 3600 but the valley focuses the wind and I'm blown 2 miles farther east in the process - a net loss of energy. There's a big cloud over a hill 4 miles north. I head for it, but get below 1000 AGL before I reach the lift. I chicken out, fly west, and float around the airport for 20 minutes hoping a benevolent thermal will pop up from the cows grazing below. No such luck; I land on Plymouth's beautiful grass at 5:25 pm.
93.5 miles. Not bad for a beginner. I tie down the LP-49 and converse with a para-plane pilot and his wife, who have come all the way from Bangor to enjoy the perfect field and perfect weather. My wife picks me up a couple hours later...
Tuesday is hot and humid. We drag my trailer to Franconia, and see a visiting club use their winch (which is so quiet I can't hear it) to fling a venerable Blanik 600 feet into the air. I'm admiring their nice L-19 when the restored Franconia L-19 arrives at the field.
Folks, you have not seen a proper Bird Dog until you have seen theirs. I could describe it, but I haven't written poetry in a long time, and anything less wouldn't do it justice. I felt honored being allowed to sit in it, much less aero-retrieve from Plymouth behind it.
- Gary, N24ES
