Over thirty years of flying gliders, and the wonder never wears off....

Sunday, February 23; the last day of the Club's Wave Camp at Petersburg, WV...Not a very promising morning - the wind is out of the southwest, roughly a 90 degree crosswind on the runway. I put the Cirrus together anyhow, because Bob and Tracy Collier had agreed that they'd drive my trailer back if I took a disgustingly high tow and flew home. Several other Skyliners (and other Camp participants) had flown that morning, with mixed results.

By noon, the wind rather suddenly came around to about 300 degrees, and Fred Winter in the K-21 reported being at 12,200 feet over the power station! I told Bob that I'd just "go flying" and, if I could get to 9000 feet, I'd fly to New Market and if not, I'd come back and buy a high tow.

Gary Rubus dropped me right on the ridge at 6000 msl (5000 AGL) in the middle of a four knot wave...all I did was release, retract, and slow down. In less than a half hour, I was sitting at 14,500, getting cold (I hadn't even put in the toe warmers!), and realized there was no reason not to fly home. From there, I could see the Blue Ridge, about 40 miles away, clear as a bell. Cloud bases were at about 8000 feet, and visibility was unlimited.

So I turned tail, leaving lift that was still nearly 4 kts, and headed for New Market. A "first" for me on this flight was watching the groundspeed on the GPS wind up to 107 kts at an IAS of 60 kts! I popped through three separate waves, flying speed-to-fly, before arriving over the New Market airport at 11,000 feet. What a hoot.

Then I blew off altitude cruising toward Harrisonburg, took the Massanutten ridge back up to Gogo's Gap, and pushed out into the valley where by then there were 6-8kt thermals! After about two hours, hungry, I put down at "home", met Bob and Tracy, put the bird away, and enjoyed a Southern Kitchen dinner.

It doesn't get much better than this.-Jim Kellett N8169

Lessons In Time for the Learning

I thought I would write out a quick note so that my experience might benefit others.

On my second flight of the day in the Sprite, I was most surprised to see, at the end of the runway, while on tow, the towline go streaking ahead of me. At that time, I also noticed my hand had come toward me still gripping the release knob! Fortunately, I already had a rough plan in mind, but I was in a gray zone of about 150 feet, near the end of 24, and with squirrely crosswinds. I didn't want to land in the cornfield, but the grass beyond the threshold was looking too difficult, so I decided not to force it and opted to take it into the cornfield. I almost aligned with the furrows before touchdown and rapid halt. No damage to glider, no injury to me, but it took a concerted Skyline effort to get the glider out of the mud (thanks all!). A quick washdown by Kevin Fleet, and the Sprite was back on the line. We checked for damage and didn't find any.

What happened? I think that after a gust, I inadvertently pulled my hand back while gripping the release knob. Ground observers (on the flightline at the other end) said that I descended rapidly; I attribute this to the rough conditions and to me reaching about 65-70 mph before reducing airspeed to 55. The lesson learned, as suggested by Joe Parrish, is not to grip the knob, but to have two fingers lightly touching it for reference. I'm certainly going to change my habit pattern.-Tony Bigbee

Soaring News Group

March 3, 1997 from California City Airport, CA, USA. James M. Payne, in his Discus, flew a 100 km Speed Triangle for World D-1 and US National Standard, Open and 15 Meter Class. Speed was 135 statute mph or 217 km per hour. Wave lift was utilized over the southern Sierra Nevada mountains. Cambridge GPS recorder was used. Flight documentation will be filed with SSA. Flight course was similar to the record attempt reported in Soaring Magazine from last year. A minor adjustment to finish point location should comply with current Sporting Code.

Jim's climb after release from tow showed average climb rate of 2000 fpm from 7000 msl thru 14,000, then 'only' 1500 fpm. The flight remained below 18,000msl due to airspace restrictions.

In addition, during the first three days of Wave Camp period at California City, four pilots flew flights valid for Diamond Altitude gains to 26,000 msl on March 2, and one more pilot stopped 'short' of Diamond at 24,000 approximately to return for landing before sundown with his SGS 1-26.

Congratulations to all these pilots on safely pursuing their goals! Wave Camp at California City continued through March 16.

Maintenance Update

Jim McCulley, Fred Winter and I have discovered the reason the fuel gauge does not read correctly on the Pawnee. The Right fuel level sender is grounded in a circuit that adds the input from both senders. As a result, only the right sender provides a signal to the gauge. We hope to fix the situation by switching the senders because the left sender is normally grounded in the circuit.

Meanwhile, Jim Miles is repairing the spare tailwheel. We can ensure that the existing tail wheel continues to function normally, without shimmy, by lubricating the tail wheel once a week and checking to see if there is any play in the connection between the tailwheel and the leaf spring. I am hereby requesting the tow pilots to make this check and lubrication part of the the preflight inspection. -Bill Vickland

New Pawnee Preflight Procedures

Two suggestions have been forwarded by Jim McCulley and Spencer Annear which will help to extend the operating life of the Pawnee.

1. Jim has suggested that the tailwheel should be checked for looseness and the shimmy damper should be lubricated once each week. I have decided to make it part of the preflight inspection. The Saturday tow pilot should lift the tail (with help from the DO) and check the tailwheel assembly for looseness where it attaches to the spring. Having checked it, the tow pilot should give the two grease fittings a shot from the grease gun which is available in the hangar. The tow pilot should make note of the procedures in the "log book," and if the notation is missing when the Sunday tow pilot makes his preflight inspection, he should perform these procedures.

2. The various hinge pins on the Pawnee and other aircraft are subject to extra wear when the constant vibration is augmented by wet and/or dusty conditions. The wear is most evident in the right outboard elevator hinge pin which I will replace very soon. However, we can reduce this wear and extend the life with the application of a a spray lubricant to the various hinge points at least once each week. I will buy and place in the locker, a suitable lubricant for this purpose. We should avoid using WD-40 as it has been determined to promote corrosion in bimetallic aircraft parts. We should give two quick shots to each of the elevator hinge pins, one from each side. The same to the rudder pins, and each of the accessible aileron and flap hinges and pushrod bearings. The Pawnee may acquire a dirty grease spots with time, but these can be easily removed with a rag dampened with fuel.

If there are other suggestions that will help to extend the life of the Pawnee, please let me know. Many thanks to Jim and Spence for these two ideas. -Bill Vickland

From the Back Seat: Preflights Can Save Your Life

This month, I read two really good reports of how important preflights can be.

First, Phil Martin of the Illini Glider Club in Illinois recently shared a fascinating story through the SSA's e-mail lists about how they found a bucking bar inside the left wing of their 2-33! (Even more incredible, this was the second such instance, separated by so many years that there was no institutional memory of the first one!)

They decided to purchase a second 2-33 to accommodate the increased training load of several new members. After some searching, they found a 2-33A priced slightly higher than they wanted to pay, but it had been restored only four years earlier. The chief glider instructor did the pre-purchase inspection as well as a "test flight" to determine theglider's suitability for the club; the aircraft was put through the regular mill of maneuvers, including spins. The instructor's comment was that the aircraft particularly favored left spins, but aside from that, there was nothing significant about the aircraft's flight characteristics.

However, club members began to complain that they were having difficulty controlling the glider. It appeared to have an abnormal left turning tendency, which at times was nearly impossible to counteract, especially at slower indicated airspeeds. Eventually, one pilot had to release from tow due to his inability to prevent a harsh left roll. One student on an early solo nearly struck the left wingtip first during landing. The student stated emphatically that it was "impossible" to raise the left wing! Several experienced pilots flew the aircraft to render an opinion, and some reported no problems while others difficulty only on occasion, and specifically on landings.

Most of the instructors felt that they had little difficulty controlling the glider. However, they did restrict the use of the glider to dual flights until the problem could be resolved. The floor pan, which was restricting the right stick travel by about a half an inch, was modified. Some cable tension differences were discovered and corrected. The ailerons were re-skinned to eliminate some warping that was found. There was some reported improvement, but the left turning problem remained!

During the first preflight of the next season, several dimples in the area of the aileron control bay on the bottom left wing skin were observed. There seemed to be no indication of an object loose in the wing. One club member suggested removing the left wing and rotating it to listen for any internal object which might be loose inside the wing. Amazingly, there was a thud while rotating the wing, similar to that of a brick moving around inside the wing. To the club's surprise, a 3.75 pound bucking bar was found 18.5 feet from the wing root!! Weight and balance calculations revealed that the bucking bar rendered moment of approximately 832.5 inch pounds at the location from where it was retrieved!

It appears that experienced pilots compensated for the problem without seriously taking note of it. The least experienced pilot had the most difficulty and this incident is what finally caused the closest scrutiny in search of the problem. Only after two near serious incidents in this glider was the matter was taken seriously.

Second, Jim Zazas shared his experience with his 1946 Luscombe 8A in the March issue of Sport Aviation. Seems that Jim was already in the habit of doing careful preflights because he often carried a lot of stuff in his plane, sometimes in unusual places, and he paid a lot of attention to weight and balance.

In the summer of 1996, he was doing just that and near the end, was doing a movement of the controls from stop to stop to make absolutely certain that none of the load he was carrying was interfering in any way with a control cable, stick, or rudder. It was during this step that he discovered a problem - when moving the control stick fore and aft, he felt a slight binding as the stick moved aft of center, and again when moved just forward of center. Nothing severe, but definitely noticeable.

So Jim unloaded the entire airplane, convinced that something somewhere was binding on a cable. The binding was still noticeable in the empty plane. He removed the seats. The binding was still there. Finally using a flashlight and mirror, he discovered that one of the pulleys under a seat, over which the elevator cable ran, was frozen. Here, finally, was the source of the binding. He noticed that the cable was shiny where it had been sliding over the frozen pulley, so he moved the controls to expose the shiny part and when he plunked the cable hard with his finger, the cable literally exploded. Four of the cable's seven strands unraveled and separated completely!! In Jim's article in Sport Aviation, there's a picture of the cable, and it'll make your skin crawl.

It's worth noting that two months earlier, during the annual inspection, there was no evidence of a frozen pulley or weak cable; the plane had flown about 120 hours since then.

The lesson to be learned from these experiences is never skimp on your preflights - you might discover something serious that had gone unnoticed for years by your or even more experienced pilots!! And whenever there is a report by any member, no matter his or her level of experience, of a possible flight control difficulty, it must be taken seriously! -Jim Kellett

Log This...

Piet Barber was awarded his "C" badge, Richard Freytag was awarded his "A" badge, and new member Fred Mueller his "A"in March. Richard's the first pilot I've ever awarded an "A" badge to who already holds his Diamond Altitude!

The SSA's badge series, the "A", "B", "C" and Bronze badges represent a progression of soaring skills that begins with solo flight and ends with full preparation for cross country soaring and subsequent flying for the FAI Silver, Gold, and Diamond badges.-Jim Kellet Up Where You Belong-We have 13 signed up for High Altitude Training and have room for three more. Check in with Richard Freytag at freytag@freytag.org if you are you are interested in this vital training.

Yuk, Yuk, Yuk!

Glider pilot: A jerk on one end of a rope waiting for a jerk on the other end.-Phil Irvine

Overheard by a guy giving rides: "Sorry about the rough landing, but I'm practicing for a job at United. Next time I'll try to loose your luggage."

Duty Officers

In order to serve its purpose, the Sky-Line depends on timely updates from you. Please be sure to include an update in your preparations for the day's soaring activities, and later on if the conditions change significantly.

If you are contemplating a trip out to 8W2, but the conditions look iffy or you're not sure if an instructor will be available, check the Sky-Line at (703) 834-9064 for an update.

Show Me the Money-Skyline Treasurer Stacy Barber requests the following from members: When the Duty Officer takes cash from members and then writes a single personal check to cover it, Stacy needs to know who paid how much cash! Please note on the log or a separate paste-it, whatever - any way to let her see quickly who paid how much.

New Member

I'm pleased to introduce Fred Mueller, 2603 Windwood Drive, Winchester, VA 22601, (540) 722-6124, e-mail fmueller@visuallink.com.

Fred is a pilot with American Airlines out of DCA/IAD. He's married to a psychiatrist who practices here in Winchester, and they have two children. He is ex Air Force where he flew C-141s. I met him several years back on the GEnie information service of all places; at that time, he was living in New Jersey. His wife's family lives near Warrenton, and on a trip down I introduced him to Jan Scott and soaring. He subsequently joined PGC and flew with them, and got his private glider privileges about five years ago at Kutztown. He has not flown gliders in the last several years, and all his previous flying was in s-33s. -Jim Kellett

New Member Responds to the Scribe

I found landing an MD-80 in blowing snow with half mile visibility is easier! Fred Winter said "Once I stopped trying to flare at the deck height of the American Airlines jetliner, things got better."

As I told Jim, we can all be thankful (well, actually I wouldn't mind) that I haven't been flying a 757 with that really tall landing gear.

I think it's worth mentioning that Jim Kellett that gave me my first ride in a glider about 6 years ago. After a 5 year hiatus, he reintroduces me to the wonders and difficulties of non-powered flight. There's something right about that.

I am impressed with Fred Winter's ability to watch other people (mainly me!) do really funky things with his airplane. I mentioned this to him and I'll paraphrase his response "I don't care what it looks like, I care what it sounds like". In retrospect, I'm not sure he can watch, but he can't avoid listening.

I'm very happy to have found Skyline Soaring and the folks I've met so far speak volumes about the quality of the club and Ihope to meet each and every one of you in the near future.-Fred Mueller

Editor's Note: This charming exchange doesn't relieve the new member of writing the obligatory Member's Biography for Skylines, particularly since, in return, the membership provides such a rich new patient base for his wife.

Blue Ridge Soaring Society's A Journal of Food and Flight

We think our hospitality lifts us to the top of the gaggle, and hospitality goes hand-in-hand with food. The Memorial Day Pig Roast, the Labor Day Chicken Barbecue, fresh Craig County trout and gourmet pot luck whenever else we gather provides a proper end to well-spent day for pilots, crew, families and friends.

We have compiled some favorite recipes for our enjoyment, and yours. And while you wait for the cake to bake or the flan to finish, you can savor the New Castle flight experience. Drawn from the pages of the monthly BRSS newsletter, the Ups and Downs, the text celebrates just some of the many memorable flights originating at New Castle. We hope you will enjoy this guide to nourishment for the body and soul.

Blue Ridge Soaring Society A Journal of Food and Flight was published in December, 1996: 179 pps., 6 original drawings of New Castle International, 48 pages of soaring narrative, 180 recipes (Appetizers to Desserts) $ 15.00 plus $ 2.50 shipping.

Order from:

	BRSS c/o Smith
	HC 34 Box 33
	New Castle, VA 24127

Check or money order. Allow 2 weeks for delivery.