President's Prerogative 

We have two big events coming up over the next three months that could make or break Skyline Soaring Club. Do I have your attention? I might have gone overboard with the hyperbole but let me tell you why I think these two events are so important to our future. The first is a strategic planning session the Board of Directors is going to conduct August 2nd and 3rd totake a long-term view of the club -- where it is and where it is going. 

There is an old health care planner's saying-- "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." The directors are going to try, over that weekend, to build the road (the victor airway?) that will make Skyline Soaring the pre-eminent soaring club in our region; a perfectly attainable goal in my opinion. Whether we achieve that goal willdepend not on the directors but on the members. Our job as directors is to discuss and formulate a strategic plan but it will be the members -- each and every one of you--who will determine whether that plan works. 

Unlike most organizations where one-third of the members do all of the work, this club has always had a high level of participation by all of its members. This is a good time for you to think about what you would like to see happen at Skyline. If you could wave a magic wand, what would you wish for?  Make your wishes known and share your ideas with any of the directors or me. It is your club and we want to make sure we are on the right road. 

The second event is the Vintage Sailplane DuPont Regatta scheduled for September 19, 20 & 21.  The Regatta commemorates the 64th anniversary of Richard C. DuPont's historic flight from Waynesboro, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland. This is the second year Skyline has hosted the event along with the Vintage Sailplane Association. This event is the soaring community's window into our club. How well we perform will determine howother clubs, and the local community, will regard us.  This is the member participation part I talked about earlier. Piet Barber is the coordinator for the event and will need lots and lots of help to make the weekend a success. We will need to promote the event; register the participants; feed them; plan social events and contests; and, perform many more tasks that will require volunteers both to help in the planning process and during the event itself.  So, avoid the draft (the dreaded call from El Presidente) and contact Piet to volunteer your services today (pietb@erols.com (703) 327-2514). 

Confessions of a Cross Country Neophyte 

Garrison's Bible 
If you were not able to attend Jim Garrison's cross country course, send him a check and beg for a copy of the course handouts. They are a very valuable compendium of cross country information, and a great adjunct to the standard texts, as they are localized to the New Market area. Jim includes a fascinating discussion of cross country wave soaring in the Shenandoah Valley, and I can't wait to try some of his techniques when the wave season begins again. Another unique element to Jim's handouts is a very good discussion of Internet-based resources for the cross country pilot. There are some fantastic resources for weather, turnpoints, airports, etc. out there, and Jim has identified the best ones for you. 

The Cross Country Club 
A lot of work has been done over the past couple of years to make it easier for club members to utilize club assets for cross country soaring. We now have established policies for qualifying pilots for cross country, the club trailer is operational and capable of interfacing to both American and European trailer hookups, Thursday operations present a better opportunity for access to the club ships, and a number of pilots have volunteered to serve as crew. The main hurdle now is YOU! 

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 
If you are capable of staying aloft for an hour in good conditions around the field, you could be going 20 miles or more on a thermal day, or 50 miles or more on a ridge day. The Silver distance flight is 32 miles-think of how many "miles" you are churning away as you fly locally around the field. 

I've Got a Secret 
Take advantage of the knowledge and experience of other club members. We have a number of highly accomplished cross country pilots in the club-three Diamond badge holders, two more on the verge of their Diamonds, and several more with extensive cross country and contest experience. It doesn't take very much prodding to get these guys to reveal their secrets. 

        Formal soaring instruction is, by and large, directed toward preparing student pilots for the Private rating. Many good resources are available either within the club or at commercial operations for getting a good foundation in the basic skills and knowledge required to pass the FAA checkride. This is not so true for "advanced" instruction-most cross-country pilots are self-taught. I can tell you from personal experience that just one dual flight with a knowledgeable pilot (not necessarily a CFI-G) can teach you more than 10 or more flights trying to teach yourself. Again, some of our most highly qualified cross country pilots are most willing to share their wisdom with neophytes like us. All you have to do is ask... 

On the Ridge 
A couple of things about the Massanutten Ridge. First, it is tempting to choose the tower at the end of the Massanutten ski resort as your remote start or finish point, as this gives the greatest official distance along the ridge. Be aware, however, that the tower is actually around toward the back side of the ridge, and it involves something of an excursion away from the upwind side of the ridge in order to get into the observation zone. A better turnpoint for us neophytes is the large microwave tower about five miles north of the southern tip of the ridge. This tower can be successfully photographed from the upwind side of the ridge. 

Stripping 
One of the best outlanding sites is another airfield. There are many grass strips along the ridge. These can be very difficult to spot, though, and I would not recommend trying to find one for the first time in the midst of an outlanding situation. I have taken several scouting flights in single engine airplanes to identify and observe these grass strips. While you're on your scouting trip, take extra notes on surrounding landmarks, and think about how you would set up your pattern into the field. Just Drop Me in Lift 

If you decide to attempt your Silver distance flight from a release altitude of 1700 AGL to avoid the distance penalty, try releasing near the ridge by Franwood Airport. The lift is better over there, and you can aerotow out of Franwood if you're unable to stay aloft. (Try to avoid landing there if the field is soft.) Better yet-release high, accept the distance penalty, and fly farther. If you do land at Franwood, don't forget to track down the owner, Larry Long, and offer your thanks and apologies for the unannounced visit. 

The Last Few Feet 
Just as I was beginning to flare on my first real outlanding, I was quite surprised to find short metal stakes in my path and spaced narrower than my wingspan. Luckily, I still had enough energy to close the spoilers and hop over them. The stakes were there to hold electric cattle wire in place, and the wire is almost invisible from even a few feet away. I wonder what would have happened if I had not noticed the stakes. Cattle wire can be strung randomly across a pasture, so don't count on finding it just along the boundaries. I don't have any real solid advice for avoiding these hazards when landing in a pasture, other than to be lucky. 

Clear Your Mind 
As neophyte cross country pilots, we have enough to think about without adding dehydrationand hunger to the mix. Take along a water bottle and a high-energy snack. And don't forget about waste relief. There are simple solutions to this problem for both men and women; just ask.  

Why Am I Doing This? 
Don't forget that the idea is to have fun. No one (other than you) really cares about your badge. Some of the best memories and war stories come from things that are not associated with the actual flight itself-like the retrieve. If it's not fun, think about what to change to make it fun (or take up stamp collecting). 
Editor's note: Please take up stamp collecting-my best client only netted a gazillion dollars last year from stamp retention and they could use some help. 

While we're on the subject... 
On July 19, at the Dayton Air Show, the US Postal Service will introduce a 20 stamp set of Commemorative Stamps titled "Classic American Aircraft" art directed and designed by yours truly and beautifully painted by Bill Phillips. Buy lots of these things because my contract is up for renewal in 1999 and I can use all the ammo I can get. For all you Air Forcephiles-there will be a 50th Anniversary of the US Department of the Air Force and also Supersonic Flight in the Fall. 

Our Own Media Star 
Skyline Soaring's own honorary member Linn Buell (and Thursday towpilot and occasional instructor/checkpilot) is one of the thirty six women pilots featured in the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum exhibit "Women and Flight" that opened to the public on June 14. Linn and several other women in the recently published book of the same title were at the museum on the opening day to sign books. The book, written and beautifully photographed by Carolyn Russo, will make an excellent addition to your library. This is a collection of some of the most accomplished contemporary pilots in air and space. Pick up a copy and ask Linn to sign it. You might find her on Thursdays at New Market, maybe flying there in her perfectly restored DeHavilland Tiger Moth. 

Hey, I was cross country when cross country wasn't cool  
The tragic story of my first cross country attempt this year: I had set a task to fly from Montebello VOR south of Waynesboro to York PA, a distance of 180 miles. The task was intended to capture the 1-26 straight line distance record in Region 4 which is currently 144 miles. I launched in what looked like it would be a 600 to 700 fpm thermal day coupled with a high speed ridge. Fred Daams towed me toward the Montebello VOR, but turbulence caused me to release early near Stuart's Draft. Over the radio we arranged to set a remote start point on a peak directly under my release point. I thought I was going to shoot up right straight up to cloud base-wrong! 

        Our rapid rise on tow from 3000 to 4000 MSL was very misleading. I took my photo at 4000 feet and turned in what I thought was ridge lift only to stop at 4200 feet. That's all I could get next to that part of the ridge. The Blue Ridge lay east about 8 miles over solid trees so my only course was to get out  in the open land where thermals would take me to cloud base at 5500 feet and I could drift downwind to Blue Ridge where I could speed north to my goal,-wrong once again. 

             Thermal strengths up to 150 to 200 fpm were realized for no more than one or two turns. The winds (28 kts) were ripping them apart. In any case, the sink rate of the 1-26 will give you about 15 minutes from 2000 feet above the ground. This theory matches my most recent experience. Such is the life of a 1-26 pilot. 
-Bill Vickland 

New pilot and plane on the block 
Tim James and Lisa Sergent went to Seminole Lake Gliderport (just west of Orlando, Florida) on Friday the 13th so Tim could take his checkride (probably a bad choice of dates). Tim spent one day with an instructor doing last minute 200' rope breaks and brushing up for the oral. He took his checkride on Saturday the 14th and passed! 

             The checkride consisted of four flights and the oral. They had to do a couple of extra flights because the cloud ceiling only allowed a tow up to 2000 feet on the first tow and 1500 on the last before thunderstorms moved in. It was a bumpy / turbulent but successful series of rides (although Tim says it wasn't his best flying). 

             Tim says it's a fallacy that if you make a high score on the written exam that you only get asked a couple of questions on your oral! Tim says he had at least 100 questions. Here's a sample of some of them: Plot a cross country course and determine the go-ahead points (within 15 minutes); identify each and every element on a sectional chart and what it means (no looking at the legend allowed); best speeds to fly under every imaginable condition (thermalling, headwinds, cross-winds, tail winds, wave soaring, ridge soaring, moderate sink, big sink, moderate lift, big lift, and dust devils). Tim says with the exception of the sectional part he thinks he answered almost everything correctly. (Ask him about the sectional part when you see him). 

             Tim and Lisa are Expecting...the arrival of their new glider on 28 June. The current owner is driving it here from Colorado this week. We bought a 1-26E (yes we hear the cheers of the 1-26 crowd and groans from the glass ship guys!). Its number 580 and is named Andiamo (Italian for "Let's Go") 
.-Lisa Sergent 

Log This... 
Congratulations to Bill Wark, who earned his SSA A, B and C badges on Sunday, June 15 at New Market.  The qualifying flights were made some time ago, but the final formalities were executed on Sunday. Bill is also taking Jim Garrison's X-C course, and is working with Jim Kellett on his SSA Bronze Badge. I'm sure we'll be reading more about Bill's X-C exploits in the near future. 

P.S. If you feel that you have met the requirements for one or more of these SSA badges (the requirements are usually printed at the beginning or end of your glider logbook), please see me or Jim K. at the field.  We want to make sure that you are recognized for these achievements. 
-Joe Parrish  

Club members, both towpilots and glider pilots, should remember to be as considerate as possible to the Dove family which resides just off the end of runway 24R at the airport. Both are ill, and even the relatively quiet gliders using the sod runway can sometimes be annoying to them. Some things in their lives we can't do anything to make better, but we can try to fly steep approaches (good glider approaches anyhow!) when using runway 24R. 
-Jim Kellett  

A reminder to glider owners and glider owner wannabees....Jim Kellett has two slots open in his hangar space, $ 25.00 a month. jkellett@shentel.net (540) 678-4798 Gary Rubus has left us to assume command of the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB. 
 

Final Note (Quote) from the Editor... 

Finally, to those correspondents that were threatened with possum recipes, thanks for sending in your stories. You were life savers.