In This Issue: Newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association, Inc. January, 2016

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1 Newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association, Inc. January, 2016 Logbook Lessons David MacVeigh In This Issue: 1 Logbook Lessons, David MacVeigh 4 M-ASA Annual Banquet, Sharon Pixton 5 From the Board, Mike Smith 6 Chris O Callaghan Memorial Scholarship Fund, Glenn Collins Duty Schedule Preferences, Ricardo Cibotti 8 BOD Candidate, John Machamer 9 Flight Instructor Review Clinic, Rich Carlson 10 In Memoriam: George Burns 11 Club Racing News, Rick Fuller 13 For Sale and Wanted Banner Photo Janus in the wave and above the inversion, Dec 5. High Rock is under the wingtip. Photo James Joao. Sometimes not knowing the details recorded in your logbook(s) can work to your benefit. Now and then I try to take advantage of the fantastic opportunity to fly with an instructor (for free! Where else can you get toplevel instruction and not pay for it??? I know people who have spent many mortgage payments on ballroom dancing lessons.) On a recent calm day Lance agreed to help me out by conducting a flight review. The ground school was very telling, as I was unable to answer many of the questions about airspace posed. But that is the whole point it s a review, not an examination. At least one of its purposes is to get us to think, perhaps about things we haven t gone over in a while. It s no secret within the club that I had a real emergency some time ago when the rear canopy of the G 103 came open on takeoff. The cause was simple failure to follow a checklist. Future corrective action equally simple: follow checklist. Also: decide in advance who will fly the aircraft! I write to point out something about that very short but very vivid experience that Glenn Collins raised with me after the investment of man-hours in disassembling the ship, trailering it the several hundred yards from Karlindo, and reassembling it. Briefly: at what I estimate to be agl with positive rate of climb on tow, and with Karlindo at my 8 o clock position, I experienced PTT (premature termination of tow.) Glenn asked, and I answered, that I was spring-loaded to land at Karlindo. I said it out loud as soon as I saw the towplane climbing away. 1 P a g e

2 I made a 180 degree left turn, which put me on a right base leg for RWY 33 at Karlindo. I then made a 90 degree right turn to short final, landed, snagged the left wingtip in tall weeds (the runway had been mowed, but only to about 50 wide, not enough for N5364G.) The glider groundlooped counterclockwise through about 220 degrees while moving forward and came to rest. Inspection revealed no damage. A reason for this, I m sure, is that with weight on the front wheel, the tail stayed off the ground as I was doing doughnuts on the runway. Glenn (kindly, and accurately) pointed out that, had I made a right 270 I would have not had to reverse the direction of the turn, and would have had the benefit of a longer final approach with more time to stabilize before landing. So when Lance agreed to conduct my flight review, I wanted to talk about the emergency. While climbing out (this time, on a right-hand pattern,) I hear the release, see the towplane climbing away, and I DO THE SAME THING (just from the other side the runway I wanted was at my 4 o clock position, the equivalent of 8 o clock on a left-hand pattern); I made a right 180 followed by a left 90 to short final. And where did that right 180 put me? A good deal closer to the trees than I would have liked. Damn and damn! So on what was the third flight of the review, I was passing the time by answering his questions about where would I go if the rope broke now, and now, and now? Eventually when I said I d go back to the departure runway rather than to one of the surrounding fields, he pulled the release and this time the light finally went on and I did a 270 left turn to a nice long stress -free final approach followed by a landing that we both walked away from and the glider could be flown away from. I am certain that in both cases of the 180-followed-by-90 turns I consciously or subconsciously wanted to keep that beautiful runway in sight. I am also certain that in both instances the better choice would have been to do a single 270 to a longer stabler final. As Lance said hey, the runway didn t move, even though you didn t see it while doing the 270! The third time was the charm; the runway stayed where it was supposed to stay; it was easy to land from a substantially longer final approach. This started out with an observation about not knowing your own flying history. As a power pilot, I have both power and glider log books. I d had a flight review (power) exactly 2 years before my flights with Lance and it was recorded in my power log book. I didn t even remember that it was less than a year ago when I had other great and free instruction from another CFIG at M-ASA that actually constituted a more recent flight review. My failure to look at both log books before flying with Lance led to some extremely valuable lessons. This is prompted by a YouTube video. Spend 5 minutes and 29 seconds on Cub Theatre: The Not That Impossible Turn some winter evening. Even though it s aimed toward power, we need power to get into the air. If the tow pilot loses power consider what you should do to avoid a nasty meeting in the air or on the ground, because you re both going there very quickly. Then take advantage of the instruction the price can t be beat! 2 P a g e

3 As an aside: if anyone wants to talk to me about my self-inflicted emergency, please feel free to ask any questions or offer any comments. I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy, let alone friends. If you can learn from my mistakes, so much the better. It takes a village. Disassembly of the twoplace Grobs for transport and maintenance, December 13. Photos Peter Kern. 3 P a g e

4 M-ASA Annual Banquet Sharon Pixton Please make your plans now to attend M-ASA s annual banquet on January 30, We ll gather at the Ceresville Mansion in Frederick. Drinks and hors d oeuvres will be served beginning at 6:00 pm; dinner will be served at 7:00 pm. This year we are privileged to have an outstanding speaker, Captain Jerry Yellin. My December Convector invitation contained several paragraphs about this interesting World War II veteran. Additional information can be found about him at his web site, captainjerryjellin.com He has also authored several books. These include Of War and Weddings, The Blackened Canteen, The Resilient Warrior, and The Letter. All are available from Amazon and all can be found at The Kindle Store. The first two are also available as I Books. Please complete the form below and mail it to me for delivery by January 22. Please don t delay!. I, plan to attend. I plan to bring as my guests (s). The cost is $35.0 per person. My check for is enclosed. Please make checks payable to Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association. Please mail this form along with your check to Sharon Pixton, 8206 Lookout Lane, Frederick, MD., P a g e

5 From the Board Mike Smith MASA members, Just a few reminders for the upcoming weeks: Board of Directors Elections With the annual Business and Safety meeting being held in early February (February 6th), the board is seeking nominations for the 2 BOD slots that will become available in February. The Bylaws state: Nominations for election to the Board of Directors may be made by any Member to an Officer of the Corporation by letter within one week of the date of the regular meeting preceding the annual meeting or in person at that meeting. The Board is holding its January meeting on Saturday the 9th at 7:30 pm at the Fairfield clubhouse. A member meeting will be held concurrent with that meeting. Therefore, please get your nominations for the Board of Directors in within one week of January 9th. Annual Banquet The MASA Annual Banquet will be held on January 30th, at the Ceresville Mansion. Please send Sharon Pixton your forms by January 22 so that she can get an accurate head count. Hope to see you all there. Annual Safety and Business Meetings The annual mandatory safety and business meeting will be held on Saturday February 6th at the Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department building. The meeting will start at 9 am. Please make sure that your annual dues are paid so that you will be able to vote. SSA Convention The SSA Convention is being held in the east this year at Greenville, South Carolina. The dates are February 18th to the 20th. The convention is a great opportunity to see all of the new sailplanes, attend seminars on virtually any aspect of soaring, and to socialize with all of your soaring friends. More information can be found on the SSA website, I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope we have a 2016 full of great soaring weather. See you at the airport. Mike Smith 5 P a g e

6 Whom to call M-ASA Club Officers and Directors: President Mike Smith Vice President Bob Jackson Secretary Holland Ford Treasurer David Pixton Director Mike Smith Director Preston Burch Director Willy Hackett Director Bob Jackson Director Dave MacVeigh Safety Officer: Paul Rehm Membership Chair: Steve Shelton Duty Scheduling: Ricardo Cibotti Chief Instructor: Dave Weaver Chief Tow Pilot: John Machamer Convector Editor: Erik Nelson Website Manager: Wayne Elseth For Godfathers and other support staff, please visit Chris O Callaghan Memorial Scholarship Fund The Mid Atlantic Soaring Association s Chris O Callaghan Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2011 and provides qualified club members with funds to be used to further their soaring growth. Since the inception of the O Callaghan Scholarship, six M-ASA members have received $500 scholarships. Scholarship Requirements 1. Applicant must: be a M-ASA member in good standing must be under the age of 22 on 1 March of the application year must be enrolled fulltime in school must maintain a B average (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) 2. The applicant must submit a completed application and a 500 to 1000 word essay describing their soaring goals. The scholarship account does not fund itself. Member donations are needed to keep this valuable member benefit viable. Donations are accepted under the guidelines of the 501-C3 charter. If each member donated the cost of a single tow, the fund would be able to continue to supporting our young members while growing to expand available benefits. As we close out on 2015, please consider a donation to the Chris O Callaghan Memorial Scholarship Fund. Checks can be made out to M-ASA but clearly annotate on the notes line the money is for the fund. Donations are fully tax deductible under M- ASA s 501-C3 structure. Glenn Collins 6 P a g e

7 2016 Duty Schedule Preferences Dear Tow Pilots, OD, AOD and new M-ASA provisional members, Thank you so much to everyone for supporting M-ASA 2015 operations. The 2016 M-ASA soaring season begins in March. Please submit your 2016 duty schedule preferences before February 1 st by using the web address below (download PDF and click on the link, or copy address and paste it on your browser): mkey=dghfylrjazbjaxlzwkz1mw9zwtlrsnc6mq#gid=0 Alternatively, you may send your scheduling preferences directly to my address: cibottir@verizon.net. Please include your name, age, duty, if (and why) you have been exempted of duties during 2015, and your 2016 date restrictions (including weekends and federal holidays). Best, Ricardo Cibotti M-ASA Duty Notes: Members assigned to operations duty must be on site in enough time to start operations by 10:00 a.m. and stay at the field until operations are concluded. Each person listed on the duty roster is responsible for that day s assignment. In the case of no-shows, the person acting as OD should indicate this fact on the flight sheet. No-shows will be fined $100. Every effort will be made to accommodate the new member s stated duty preference whenever possible. M-ASA Scheduler: Ricardo Cibotti (cibottir@verizon.net; ). Scenes from a wave day Saturday 12/19. Left: Jeff Rose dressed for the occasion. Center: Nice and warm on top--p6 got over 15k. Right: Cold but corking underneath. Photos E. Nelson. 7 P a g e

8 Board of Directors Candidate John Machamer My interests in becoming a board member of M-ASA are these: 1. Maintaining and building on our record of safety. With the consolidation of Frederick we have many more operations now than in the past. We need to continually update our processes and use best practices on how we do things. 2. Continuing the upgrades of our club facility to make it more appealing and inviting to our potential new members and families. We need to bring new members into the club and creating a community families feel comfortable with is an important part of that process. 3. Facilitate our members in their enjoyment of the sport of soaring. After all that s why they became members in the first place. With these priorities in mind, I ask for your support in becoming a M-ASA board member. My love affair with aviation began as a teenager and has grown ever since. After graduating from college I worked a short stint with The Boeing Company in Everett, WA before returning east to further my flying experiences. In 1990 Karen and I moved to Gettysburg, PA about five miles from W73, where we raised our three children and have lived ever since. Currently I am working as an Air Program Designee and Check Airman on the B-787 program at AA. I joined M-ASA and earned my commercial glider rating in Since that time I have been instrumental in recovering the club 2-33 and setting up our early Youth and Midshipman programs, as well as, flying as a tow pilot. Living close by, I have come out on a number of cold mornings, after a frontal passage, to make a couple of tows at sun-up. Having a well set up shop at my house and a hangar on the field, I have been there to help with many repairs of our Tow Planes and keep them towing. As the Chief Tow Pilot at M-ASA I look forward to increasing our Tow Pilot ranks this coming season with a few members that have expressed their interest. I spend many weekend days puttering at my hangar, please stop by any time. 8 P a g e

9 Glider-Oriented Flight Instructor Refresher Course When you get an endorsement from your flight instructor you will notice that he/she includes their certificate number and a date. That date is the expiration date of their Flight Instructor privileges. What you may not know is that those privileges expire every 2 years. Every 2 years, before the expiration date, every instructor needs to renew their certificate. There are several ways to do this, and one way is to take an FAA approved class. This class is called a Flight Instructor Refresher Course (FIRC). The Soaring Safety Foundation has been an authorized provider of FIRCs since the early 1980's. Every spring a team of SSF instructors travels the country putting on 6-8 of these 2-day FIRCs. This January 9-10 the SSF team returns to the Region 4 North area and will hold a FIRC in Gainesville VA. See for more details. While the primary purpose is to provide a venue for Flight Instructors to renew, non-instructors are welcome as well. The class consist of 16 hours (2 days) of discussions on various aspects of teaching and learning to fly gliders and airplanes. The discussions will use Scenario based Training (SBT) methods to explore a topic in depth. A $150 fee is charged to cover the cost of the venue and travel costs for the SSF FIRC instructor team. Contact Rich Carlson for more information or register on-line at the SSF web site. Grob disassembly December 13. Photo Peter Kern. 9 P a g e

10 In Memoriam: George Burns Former MASA member, dear friend, fellow RC, power, and sailplane pilot George Burns died in St. Petersburg, Florida on Dec. 4 after being diagnosed with a particularly nasty form of cancer in October. George Burns enabled me to realize my long-held goal of flying a sailplane cross-country when he offered me a share of his G102, which is currently owned by Ricardo Cibotti, 2GB. Later he stepped up to T8, an AS-W 20. A number of years ago he and Eileen moved to Florida where they were able to pursue their outdoor interests year-round--cycling and sea kayaking. Their son Chris was, I believe, Cathy Williams' first student, and he made his parents proud by soloing on his 14th birthday. One of George's more interesting flying tales concerned how an Aeronca Champ he was flying turned into a glider when the propeller separated from the shaft. A farmer brought it to the field the next day. George was kind and generous to a fault. I grieve for his family, but even more for those who didn't know him--theirs is the greater loss. -- David MacVeigh Celebration of George s Life: Date: January 4, 2016 Time: 11am-1:30pm Location: 400 Beach Seafood and Taphouse, 400 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, FL. Lunch will be served. Donations: In lieu of flowers, we have set up a memorial fund to place George's name on the Wall of Honor at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. To make a donation: Obituary: The obituary for George is posted on the Brett Funeral Home website. To view it and to leave notes and memories in the Guestbook, go here: Burns/St.-Petersburg-FL/ Dress: Business casual. Parking: Complimentary valet parking is available at 400 Beach Seafood & Taphouse. Enter from 5th Ave NE westbound. Local Hotels: Beach Drive Inn Bed and Breakfast Hampton Inn & Suites St. Petersburg/Downtown Courtyard St. Petersburg Downtown 10 P a g e

11 Club Racing News 2015 Recap Club Racing News 2015 Recap Club Championship and Task Day Championship Rick Fuller Rick Fuller His last flight at Fairfield was in early May 2015 but Baude Litt LBL still managed to win the title of Club Champion over Mike Higgins by 71 points. The full results are here: Rick Fuller CL won the Task Day Championship over Erik Nelson by just over 350 points. The full results are here: g.pdf Regional, National and International Contests There were some significant highlights for M-ASA members flying in regional, national and International contests this year. Here s the 2015 recap: Congratulations go to Erik Nelson 5E who placed 2 nd in the 15 Meter Class at the 1 st FAI Pan American Gliding Championships run by Sara Kelly Arnold at the McMinn County Airport, Tennessee, in April. The PAGC was the first of its kind to be held in North America. In part due to his success at the PAGC, Erik has been selected by the U.S. Team Committee to represent the United States at the 34 th World Gliding Championships in Benalla, Australia, in the 15M Class in January He ll be practicing at the Pre-Worlds in Australia this January. See his blog at fiveecho.blogspot.com. The contest site is Pan-American Gliding Championships 15-Meter Podium: Jerzy Szemplinski, Canada, Gold, Erik Nelson, USA, Silver, and Sean Fidler, USA, Bronze. Photo Mary Nelson. The Seniors Soaring Championship in Seminole Lake, Florida, saw Baude Litt LBL take 6 th place out of a field of 55 pilots; Dave Pixton 9X placed 24th. At the Region 5 North contest in Perry, SC, Baude Litt LBL placed 6 th in the Standard Class. Mike Smith XM placed 4 th in the 15M FAI Class. At the Region 2 contest in Mifflin, PA, Rick Fuller CL placed 11 th in the Sports Class and Dave Pixton 9X placed 10 th in the 15M FAI Handicapped Class. Cathy Williams 392 placed 6 th at the 126 Championships at Minden, NV. 11 P a g e

12 Mike Smith XM and Erik Nelson 5E competed at the 15 Meter Nationals at Harris Hill in Elmira, NY. They finished 2 nd and 9 th, respectively. Congratulations to XM for winning a podium spot! At our own Region 4 North contest in Fairfield, PA, Erik Nelson 5E won the 3 rd spot in the newly defined Gold Class. Other M-ASA members in the Gold Class were; Mike Smith XM at 7 th place, Dave Pixton 9X at 8 th place and Dave Weaver DW at 11 th place. Congratulations to 5E for another podium spot! The Future of Task Day As Mike Higgins mentioned in an earlier Convector, the quantity and participation in Task Day events has decreased over the past few years. Despite our best efforts, this trend continued in I doubt anyone would argue that the weather gods have not been as friendly as in past years. The ranks of Task Day pilots have thinned a bit this year. Our top two competitors, Mike Higgins WM and Baude Litt LBL, pursued other goals this year. Mike earned his powered license in his new L-16 Champ but promises to return in his (new to him) ASW-20. And Baude continued to enjoy retirement in Belgium. Other pilots have also been lured away by other regional and national contests. We had only seven task days this year as compared to previous years: 2015: 7 tasks, 13 participants, 23 scored flight logs 2014: 10 tasks, 15 participants, 40 scored flight logs 2013: 15 tasks, 14 participants, 60 scored flight logs. 2012: 14 tasks, 14 participants, 65 scored flight logs. 2011: 16 tasks, 19 participants, 79 scored flight logs. 2010: 19 tasks, 16 participants, 75 scored flight logs. 2009: 16 tasks, 13 participants, 85 scored flight logs. 2008: 21 tasks, 12 participants, 90 scored tasks 2007: (unavailable) 2006: 21 tasks, 22 participants, 113 scored flight logs 2005: 26 tasks, 19 participants, 147 scored flight logs We need to reverse this negative trend. As a club we should try to breathe new life into overall participation by encouraging more mentoring tasks, entry-level tasks, grand prix racing, or longer and more challenging tasks for the more experienced pilots. I recommended that we communicate in advance of a good weekend forecast as we do with wave days in the winter. I ll attempt to do that if I see a good weekend day approaching. I also recommend we schedule a Task Day meeting at the start of the 2016 season to contemplate some new ideas for increasing Task Day participation and resolve any rules issues. Please let me know of ideas you might have and I ll publish them before a March meeting. Keep your eye on the calendar. 12 P a g e

13 For Sale, and Wanted For Sale: HPH 304 CZ Built in 2001 with 15m winglets, with flaps, (S/N 42-17). Excellent condition, almost as new, meticulously maintained. Total time: only 199 hr. Comes with 2001 Cobra Trailer with Fiberglass top refinished in 2013, looks almost as new. Fully automatic control hook-ups. Tow-out gear, Becker AR4201 radio, LX5000 FAI flight computer updated to v.11 which improved display and software. Borgelt B40 backup vario, oxygen bottle, full dust covers and separate canopy cover. Roomy cockpit good also for larger pilots, easy to get in and out since instrument panel folds up with canopy. A/D for elevator rod done. Can be fitted with 17.4 meter wing extensions. Fresh annual will be done when sold. Located at Fairfield, PA. $59,000. Contact owners by e- Mail: and/or or call Dan at Luscombe Tail Dragger club has openings. FDK Luscombe, a KFDK based Luscombe club is looking for additional members. We keep the membership to 6 members so that the aircraft is available when you want to fly. Get your conventional gear time in a Luscombe 8E. Contact Wayne Elseth luscombe@elseth.net Janus (4S) Silent Soarers Inc. has corporate shares available. Glider is hangared at Fairfield. Low cost access to an excellent high performance twoseat sailplane. 39:1 performance with outstanding climb characteristics. Refinished in MicroAir radio, SN10B with repeater in back seat, MH EDS oxygen, trailer with new running gear. Contact Glenn Collins (pwrlessflt@msn.com) or Tom Jones (daedelus@mindspring.com) 13 P a g e