Skyline Soaring Club

S K Y L I N E SMONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF SKYLINE SOARING CLUB,INC AUGUST 2010Masthead photo by Dick OtisNotes from the Club PresidentCraig BendorfAugust is now upon us with lots of promise, but July was areal good month for the club despite the record temperatures.We managed to finish off the month with over 690tows for the year which puts us pretty close to last years count forthe same period and shows that we are having strong participation.From 16-25 July we held our training week and ran flying operationsfor 9 straight days and logged 122 flights, with multiplesolos, one new Private Pilot license, and a Bronze Badge. I want tothank all the instructors, tow pilots and individuals helping on theground for making it such a successful event.We also had individuals expanding their experience and havea great time doing it. Shane Neitzey towed his Capstan and VernKline towed the club Sprite with several other members to Elmira,NY for the Schweizer Homecoming. They had a great time flyingat the oldest glider field in the country, meeting lots of peopleand visiting the National Soaring Museum. The soaring On LineCompetition (OLC) has continued to gain interest in the cluband we now have 9 pilots currently participating with 42 flightssubmitted so far this year with well over 3700 Km flown. Last yearwe were ranked 140 out of 150 participating clubs and this yearwe are currently ranked 80th with plenty of time to improve ourranking.Additionally many members are getting involved in helpingsupport the Skyline Soaring Education Foundation. Their web sitewww.ssefva.org is up and growing and I was able to easily donateelectronically through Pay Pal. If everything goes well they willhopefully be sponsoring their first scholarship this fall.This Was the Week that WasJim KellettTen straight days of soaring - July 16 - 25, 2010. A week burnedin memory, if for no other reason than it was HOT! This wasSkyline’s second year of mounting an entire week concentratingon instructing, an idea that originated with Bob Sallada - and itwas as successful as the first one in 2009!We made over one hundred flights of every kind - crosscountry training, cross country (with aero retrieve), two new soar-Dick Otis1

ing badges, one new FAA pilot certificate, lots of excitement andcamaraderie, good after-flying dinners, experience at dodgingthunderstorms, good snacks at the field (thanks, Elaine!), an aerotowretrieve for a member’s cross country landout (thanks, Craig!),and a chance to explore an exciting new training (and practicing)tool (Piet’s simulator). Expertise was shared by a half-dozen highlyqualified instructors; towing as done by almost as many highlyqualified towpilots; operations were managed by a several OUT-STANDINGLY qualified members! Special thanks to John Noss whospearheaded the organization of the week, to Piet Barber for sharinghis new sim (and for flight instruction as well), and to Dick Otisand Bob Sallada for devoting the entire week to the effort. Therewere many others, too, who every day did some mix of towing/instructing/retrievinggliders/making repairs/running wings/flyingfor-fun. . . including one day of “hare and hounds” cross countrytraining, led by Jim Garrison in his ASG-29, a first for our club!Good soaring and good training weather every day. Should’abeen there!Photos by Dick OtisFriday, July 25, at the Mill(left to right) Dick Otis,Elaine Chou, Jake Barber,Piet Barber, Oliver Ash,Jay Ash (Oliver and Mike’sDad), Mike Ash, John Noss.2

Friday July 23—It was a hot, hazy and humidday, the last day of the 2010 annual“week of training”. Having nothing betterto do (like work), a ragged group of dedicatedglider pilots under the commandof Club Cross Country Group Leader JimGarrison, an infamous “Gang of Five”decided to do a group round robin. Aftera little wardroom pre-flight briefing inthe Front Royal Airport FBO, the world renownPawnee Pilot (Dick Otis) flung thisdiverse crew into the air, one after theother in rapid succession. Hopefully noone noticed this ancient tow pilot doingNavy Carrier departure and arrivals, backtaxis on the runway, and cross countryon the “emergency” grass landing strip inan effort to launch everyone together asclose as possible. While two tow planeswere on the ramp, the only other towpilot on the tarmac (John) had abandonedhis towing duties to go play with“the gang”.I’ll leave the reporting on the actualgroup flights to someone else, but theyall returned successfully (more or lesstogether—Dick OtisPre-flight briefing of the Cross-County Squad—from Left to Right: Mike Ash, Steve Rockwood,Jim Garrison, John Noss and Piet Barber.Photos by Dick OtisRockwood and the Cirrus landing back at FRR safe and soundI had the privilege of flying with one of the most renowned crosscountry pilots around on the last day of the Week of Training, July23rd. Jim Garrison agreed to help me leave the nest, as it where,and begin to spread my wings to cross country soaring. The planwas simple, Jim would fly his ASW-29 and I would fly the Cirrus. Iwould play follow the leader and Jim would guide me safely awayfrom the confines of the Front Royal Valley. All the while Jim wouldtell me how far from the airport we were, what the wind directionand speed was, what clouds looked good, help me think aboutwant altitude would be needed to glide back to FRR, etc.An opportunity like this could not be passed up by other clubmembers so John Noss, Mike Ash, and Piet Barber assembled theirprivate gliders to join the group. We lined all five gliders up tail-tonoseon the launch ramp so Dick Otis could launch us in quick orderto the meeting point over the fish ponds. John was up first inNG, then Jim in AE, Mike in H3, me in the Cirrus, and finally Piet inJS. We all switched to 123.5 on the radio so we could communicateunencumbered and not interfere with airport communications.The plan on paper was to make cross county trips to Winchesterand back to Front Royal, thenout west of the MassanuttenRidge and back and finally tothe Linden VOR before landing,hopefully where we tookoff. Of course this plan was allbased on the available lift thatwe could locate once we gotinto the air. Things look good tothe North, but the lift we hadanticipated did not materialize.We were able to fly out nearthe Linden VOR, and then outto the intersection of I-66 andI-81, and down the eastern sideof the ridge for about 7 miles.Great fun having five glidersall circling in the same thermaltrying to get to cloud base. During the transition from one cloudto the next we would fly three or four gliders abreast to searchout a thermal. Whoever located one would call the other over.At the pre-flight briefing Jim told me he would stay with me theentire time during the flight to coach me along. This was a newexperience for me considering my dad taught me how to snowski by taking me to the top of the mountain and then proclaiming,OK, I’ll see you at the bottom and off he went leaving me toget down the best I could. Jim would linger at cloud base under abig thermal and announce Keep climbing, I’ll wait for you to catchupФ. He never left me to flounder on my own which allowed me toconcentrate on soaring instead worrying about getting back to theairport.This was a great experience that I will remember for a longtime. I learned a lot and gained the confidence to push my boundariesa little farther the next time I fly. Thanks Jim for taking thetime to bring out your glider and share your experience with meand the rest of the guys. I look forward to the next time we can flytogether and plan to take you up on your offer to come to Waynesboroto fly the Duo Discus for additional cross country training.—Steve Rockwood3

Membership ReportSteve Rockwood, SSC Membership OfficerOur membership has continued to grow during the spring andearly summer months. The club now has a total of 100 activemembers, including three new Probationary members in thelast three months and nine Introductory members in the monthof July. Welcome the following members who have recently joinedwith Probationary status:• Carlos Troncoso: Carlos and his father Gonzalo each took a rideon a FAST voucher in April; Carlos caught the soaring bug, andjoined the club in May. Carlos is a frequent visitor at FRR. Sincejoining, he has amassed about 20 training flights including 6 inone day. The kid is tireless; helping to move planes, retrieve gliders,flying multiple times each day. He tires me out just watching him.Carlos and Martin Gomez both hail from Argentina so they havea lot in common and things to talk about in the native language,especially World Cup soccer new. Welcome to the club Carlos.• Hugh Bugs Forsythe: He joined the club in early May and yes,he goes by Bugs. Bugs is a very accomplished pilot as noted by hiscareers in commercial and military aviation; including Air Forcepilot of F-105, F-4, F-16, T-38, and C-123 aircraft, commercial airlinepilot flying Boeing B-727, B737, and B-777 plus an Airbus A-320.Bugs has been a test pilot for Gates-Learjet and served in SEA andIragi Freedom. At last count I think Bugs has only taken a hand fullof instructional glider flight but is nearly ready to solo, if he hasnot already done so. Welcome to the club Bugs and be nice to thenumerous Navy pilots we have in the club.• Thomas Gainer: Thomas just recently joined the club in earlyJuly. Thomas is new to the sport of soaring and anxious to learn. Hemade his first flight with instructor Bruce Codwise on the IndependenceDay weekend. Welcome Thomas.We have nine (9) new introductory members for July; Oliver Ash(brother of Mike), Jennifer Brady, David Henshaw, Chris Hutchins,Trevor and Christopher Roskind, Wyatt Schultz, Robin Simmons, andValeriy Vislobokov. Welcome all to the club and we hope you decidejoin the soaring club as Probationary members in the near future.In Praise of Spin TrainingMike AshThere I was....It was a hot July day, with middling thermals. There were occasionalstrong ones up to 5,000ft or more, but few and farbetween, and poorly marked. There were lots of bumps, weakthermals, stuff that looked strong but petered out, etc. I’d spenta few blissful moments up high, but most of the flight around3,000ft. As a consequence, I was getting uncomfortably hot in theglider. I was highly motivated to find another strong thermal justto cool off, let alone the flying benefits of altitude.Martin Gomez by Martin GomezThe trees were starting to get a bit close and I was starting tohave thoughts of returning closer to the airport. Suddenly, a sharpbump pegged the vario up. I pulled up into it, banked hard left,lowered the flaps to the thermal setting, and turned into it.The stick was in my lap, my speed was coming off, when suddenlyI got hit by a gust. The glider started to bank more to the left.I used right stick to correct for it, but that just made it start fallingover to the left even harder. A moment later, I was banked at acrazy angle, and my nose was swinging toward the ground.Spin entry!My training took over. Get rid of the back stick, unload thewing, neutral aileron, rudder opposite the spin direction. Rotationstopped before it really got started, and I pulled out without toomuch of an altitude loss, and just a rapidly beating heart.I doubt that I could have reacted so quickly had I not takenspin training previously. Everything was completely automatic, myhigher-level brain functionsdidn’t even kick in until it wasdone. I doubt that would havebeen possible without prior exposureto the event, especiallyafter baking for an hour or sounder the hot July sun.Skyline’s training fleet is superb,but we do lack a spinnabletwo-seater suitable for spintraining. If you’ve done yourtraining at Skyline, I believe it’swell worth your time to go alittle bit further and seek out afacility that can offer spintraining.Editor’s note: where is MissDaisey now that we need her—men are so fickle!5

CopyThat! Selected flotsam and jetsamfrom the editor’s daily Tsunami of emailThe Vintage Sailplane Association (VSA) will host a vintage sailplanemeet at Massey Aerodrome in Maryland the weekend of 15 October.Information is available on both the VSA website and MasseyAir Museum’s site. Massey features a 3000 foot grass runway andnumerous airfields nearby to accommodate wayward gliders.—Rusty Lowry, 301-475-0308.Anyone coming to the Reno Air Races (Sept. 15—19) should plan toarrive early or stay late and soar at SoaringNV in Minden. It’s only45 minutes south of the Reno Airport (about as far south as RenoStead is north). We would love to see you here. Do let us knowyou’re coming, though: we book up early during race week.—Fred LaSor, SoaringNV, Minden, NV(775) 782-9595 flasor@frognet.netCongratulations to Fred Winter for persevering through difficultrecovery from his crippling accident to fly again in record time.Well, it’s hardly “new”, but it’s new to me . . .a good friend recentlygave me a gift subscription to “Gliding International”, published byJohn Roake (the man who gave us the video “Soaring: Your Sportfor the New Millennium”) in New Zealand.I was amazed at the quality of the journal! It really is internationalin scope, so there’s lots of interesting stuff for ANY gliderpilot - and the article content is, to be brutally honest, much moreinteresting than much of what appears in “our” own SSA journal,SOARING Magazine.I’m going to leave a copy in the “computer box” at the field formembers to browse. I suspect more than a few Skyline membersmay well want their own subscriptions. I know I’ll be renewingmine!— Jim Kellett, Resident CurmudgeonEAA’s “Salute to Veterans” B-17 Tour is coming to a town near you!This one-of-a-kind tour brings the beautifully restored B-17 FlyingFortress Aluminum Overcast to local airports across the nationfor flight experiences and walk-through tours. Out of more than12,000 that were built, this aircraft is one of a handful of airworthyB-17s still flying.EAA invites you to reserve a seat for a flight aboard this rareWWII bomber and experience “the ride of a lifetime.”September 10 - 12, Leesburg, VA Leesburg Executive Airporthttp://www.b17.org/The Restorers is an exciting new PBS series about warbird andvintage aircraft restorers and the planes they resurrect from thegraves of history. Based and inspired by the Emmy winning original2004 film, the series will shoot throughout the world, giving youmore than a glimpse into the life of airplane restoration...http://www.therestorers.com/The_Restorers/Home.htmlThe March 1973 issue of The Vintage Airplane—very interesting!http://www.eaa.org/vintageaircraft/articles/va_mar1973.pdfNASA has given gamers a taste of lunar adventure withrelease of Moonbase Alpha, an exciting new, free online videogame. — The game has single and multiplayer options that allowparticipants to step into the role of an exploration team memberin a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement. Players must work to restorecritical systems and oxygen flow after a meteor strike cripples asolar array and life support equipment. Available resources includean interactive command center, lunar rover, mobile robotic repairunits and a fully-stocked equipment shed.The game is a proof of concept to show how NASA contentcan be combined with a cutting-edge game engine to inspire,engage and educate students about agency technologies, job opportunitiesand the future of space exploration. Moonbase Alphais rated “E” for everyone.It is the first game in NASA’s Learning Technologies project.The project supports the delivery of NASA content through interactivetechnologies such as virtual worlds, games and softwareapplications to enhance science, technology, engineering andmathematics, or STEM, education.Moonbase Alpha is a precursor to a planned NASA-basedmassively, multiplayer online game project. The project is beingdesigned to have content and missions that require players to gainand demonstrate STEM knowledge to succeed.NASA released the game on Valve’s Steam network. The agencywill use the Steamworks suite of services for server browsing,leaderboards, statistics and more. Steam has more than 25 millionaccounts and has released more than 1,100 games. It was built onEpic Games’ Unreal Engine 3.The Army Game Studio developed thegame with support from Virtual Heroes, a division of Applied ResearchAssociates in Research Triangle Park, N.C. This collaborationbetween NASA and the Army’s Aviation Missile Research Developmentand Engineering Center is an example of government agenciesworking together to improve education in the STEM fields.For more information visit: http://www.nasa.gov/moonbasealphaBad decisions make good stories and confession is good for thesoul. Come clean in Skylines—everyone can benefit from yourexperiences.Skyline Soaring Club, Inc.is a private, 501(c7) non-profit organization,dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion ofthe sport of soaring. SSC is based at theFront Royal-Warren County, Va. Airport and is anaffiliate club of the Soaring Society of America.For information about the club go towww.skylinesoaring.orgor e-mail welcome@skylinesoaring.org.President—Craig BendorfSecretary—Jim KellettTreasurer—Thomas ParkMembership—Steve RockwoodChief Tow Pilot—Curtis WheelerChief Flight Instructor—Piet BarberSafety Officer—John NossSkylines Editor—Phil JordanDirectors—Craig Bendorf, Jim Kellett, John Noss,Joe Parrish, Paul Seketa, Curtis Wheeler6