President's Prerogative
The board gathered on an overcast Saturday to do what we do to try to keep this ever-growing organization functioning smoothly and headed in the right direction. And, as always, I was reminded how well this club functions when everyone pitches in.

Early this spring when he wasn't doing anything (he's retired so doing nothing is pretty much his week), Jim Kellett had an idea that he might be able to get a couple of students and other pilots to take a day off to fly on an upcoming Thursday. Well, one thing led to another and the next thing you know several folks are flying every Thursday increasing the club's flying days by 50% and operations revenue by a big chunk. Students are getting to solo faster and members who work or have family obligations on the weekends have another opportunity to fly. This doesn't happen, however, without having tow pilots, DOs and ADOs willing to step in and make the program work to the benefit of all. While there are many other examples of individual and collective efforts on behalf of the club, I raise this as we approach the end of the flying season to stimulate all of us (myself included) to think about ways we can individually and collectively promote and advance the club.

With the wonders of e-mail to allow us to perform our ministerial functions the board does not have to meet every month and we have settled on quarterly board meetings as an optimum number. They are scheduled at the field so we have an impetus to get them over with a minimum of palaver and then get in a little flying (and there was very little flying on that day). We did, however, manage to do the club's business and following are some of the highlights.

1. Malcolm Gardner, Dave Weaver, and Dave Nichols were formally approved as full members, ending their probationary period.
2. We appear to be in pretty good financial shape based on statements from the first three quarters.

Flights are up over historical numbers thanks to the Thursday operations, expenses are down thanks to lower maintenance costs (last year we had some extraordinary AD and annual-type costs on the Pawnee) and new member capital payments keep rolling in. This has allowed us to reserve for future costs we know we are going to incur as well as begin paying back some of the charter members. Not until we close out the books upon completion of operations in December will we know the complete picture; the board will give a full financial report at the annual meeting and will probably have some recommendations as well.

1. One effect of the increased operations has been the observation by several members that safety and our awareness of what is happening on the flight line have deteriorated somewhat. This led the board to establish a committee of John Ayers, Kevin Fleet and me to develop and implement ways to strengthen the training and performance of our Duty Officers.
2. The Board reviewed the status of New Market Airport, and tasked several individual Board members to collect additional data on the property and do some research on strategic options. When the airport was first offered for sale, the Board appointed a committee to review the options available to the club in the event we cold no longer use 8W2 as our base. While we have no reason to believe that we would not be welcome to any new owner of the field, we have gone one step further to develop options that would allow the club to become involved in or, at a minimum, influence the purchase of the facility.

We still have a month of flying left in the season, so let's take advantage to cram in as much flying as possible before the long winter chill sets in. See you at the field.
-Joe Rees

Excerpts from the Board Meeting

1. The Club's Christmas Party is scheduled for Saturday, December 13, 1997! Where? Let's decide! We have at least one volunteer location, but the Board at it's meeting on October 25 decided to see if there were others who'd like to host the party this year. If YOU would like to do this, call Joe Rees at (202) 547-0057 or e-mail him at before November 15!! The Board will make the final selection from the volunteers.
2. The Club's next Annual Meeting is schedule for 10:00 AM on Saturday, January 31, 1998 at a place to be announced. Mark your calendars. Think about where you want the Club to be going. Think about how you can help it get there.
3. Bill Vickland wants to sell his Bellanca Scout. It would be particularly nice if some Club members wanted to buy it and consider continuing the lease arrangement with the Club! Talk to Bill Vickland at (703) 527-5302 or e-mail at . This is a really cool opportunity for someone!
4. Tim James and Lisa Sergent are leaving us!! Tim got "an offer he couldn't refuse" on a job in Memphis, TN, and he reports for duty January 4, 1998! They've already contacted the Memphis Soaring Club (and started talking about a reciprocal membership arrangement) where they can base "Andiamo" when they move. They'll be sorely missed! (Be sure to come to the Christmas Party to say "goodbye"!)

From the Halls of Illini to the Shores of Sangamon
From Bill Jones, Ex Member, CFI, Tow pilot
Hard to believe that I'm into my fifth year out here. It is a great job as I fly over 500 hours a year. I'm now an assistant chief flight instructor and give checkrides for private, commercial and instrument students plus I teach the instrument ground school. (University of Illinois-Ed.) In case you haven't heard about Matthew, he's a Captain with Continental Express flying the EMB-120 Brasilia out of Cleveland and he also just got married in June. He started the captain upgrade training on his 23rd birthday in March and then at the time he finished the training and was designated a Captain in May, he was the youngest captain in the entire airline industry. Not bad for a kid who started out as a lineboy at Warrenton Soaring Center!!!

Have you read my new aviation adventure novel yet? Its title is SILENT RESCUE and was book reviewed in I believe the June issue of SOARING (Jim, I also enjoyed your article in last month's issue) In case you haven' t got a copy yet, the easiest way to get one is from my publisher. It retails for $14.95 plus shipping. It came out in July and I' ve done 4 book signings here in Illinois, 1 in New York and 3 days worth at Oshkosh. I also did a radio talk show in my hometown in New York plus newspaper coverage. We' re working real hard to get it in stores nationally but things take time. Here' s the info on my publisher and if you enjoy the book I'd appreciate it if you'd tell others about it.

I'm also still in the Illini Glider club towing and instructing. Have tried to tone down my involvement some but still do about 2 weekends a month. A friend just bought a PIK-20 so am flying it some and in the club we have a 2-33, 1-26, Krosno and a PW-5.

Thanks again about inquiring about me.
-Bill Jones <w-jones@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>

Bank on a Healthy Attitude
Recently, Rich Gillock, a 1-26 driver, responded to a frustrated Canadian who felt he could not have any fun flying a 1-26. Rich's response was so good that I thought other may be interested. Here it is. The first line is that of the frustrated pilot. The rest is Rich's.
-Bill Vickland

"To us, there's no diamond or such a thing with 1-26. We are living in the North, where big 5 m/sec thermals up to 4000 metres and more don't exist."

I just got back from a business trip to Montreal, and in a week I only saw two days conducive to staying aloft, but I would have been tempted to fly my 1-26 cross country on those days. Flying back (on the airline) I saw a lot of countryside between Ottowa and Toronto that I would not have liked to fly over, even in a glass bird, too many lakes, and therefore, no real source of lift.

I don't think that being North is your problem, being Wet is the problem. In the West, our best flights are cross-wind along mountain ridges with big thermals being scooped up out of desert valleys. However in the Mid West, there have been long flights, even diamond distance flights, made by flying down wind along cold fronts. Some of the long flights began in Minnesota, (West not South of you).

Part of the challenge of flying a 1-26 is attitude.

The first rule is: I can land this thing anywhere, so I can SAFELY fly places a glass bird cannot. The 40 ft wing span is able to land on most roads where a 15 meter bird cannot. It can touch down and stop in 30 meters with practice. So PRACTICE!

The second rule is: I can out climb glass birds. Many glass birds have lower sink rates than a 1-26, but their stall speeds and thermaling speeds are higher, so their thermaling radius is larger. In small thermals or ones with strong cores I regularly climb right by the glass. The key to being a successful 1-26 pilot is concentration on thermaling. You can't ever be lazy, you have to get the best performance possible in each thermal because physics will not let you fly a flatter trajectory than a glass bird, but skill will let you outclimb him by a significant margin.

The third rule is: Good pilots are not a product of their aircraft or the weather. Fly the weak days, the best thermaling skills are developed on days you can barely stay in the sky, not the big booming days. Go cross country whenever you can, land out if you have to, but learn the confidence of flying a long way in a 1-26. If it's a windy day, plan on not making it back, but go somewhere down wind. Retrieves are fun, you meet new people and see new countryside, and you have a captive audience (your crew) to tell all your stories to on the drive back to the airport. I started flying serious cross country flights by flying in contests. Contests change your perception of cross country flying. I found myself not only launching, but completing 100 km tasks on days when the weather was so weak that I would not have bothered to untie the glider if some fool had not called a contest that day. I also learned that I could not only beat glass birds with a handicap, but sometimes beat them outright. Last year I won the Dust Devil Dash, a straight out distance task, by flying about 350 km. I won because of my handicap, but I also flew further than any other glass bird except one which landed 15 km further.

The fourth rule is: Go for it! Plan the big flights. Know the terrain, airports, crew following routes, and the best weather to fly the task. Study the weather patterns so that you can predict the BIG DAY in advance and arrange time off from work, a crew, and an available 1-26. Be prepared. When the best weather comes, have no excuses, just fly and complete the task. If you can get 2 or 3 pilots flying the same task, the chances of success increase, and if one lands out, the others can help the crews find him. At Warner Springs we have 6 to 8 1-26's flying together each weekend.

It helps to hone skills against each other, and to help each other during local or distant cross country flights. That is one reason we have one of the biggest concentrations of Diamond 1-26 pilots in the world flying together.

The fifth rule is: Flying is supposed to be fun. If you let the glass pilots in your club set your standards for happiness, you will never have fun in a 1-26. But if you want to fly, then a 1-26 is as good as any other bird. Fly it. Get good at it. Get REALLY good at it. Pretty soon you'll be going places the glass guys go. When they stop to thermal, there you'll be. When they have all landed, you'll still be up working weak thermals at the end of the day they can't be bothered with. Earn your Silver Badge in a 1-26. Do a down wind dash and earn Gold Distance. Trailer over to the mountains and get Gold Altitude or even Diamond Altitude (wave doesn't much care what you're flying). Then when that really great weather pattern sets up, go for the Diamond Distance. And when the club members decide that you are "worthy" of flying their glass birds, just say "no thanks, I'd rather earn my accomplishments, not buy them".
Good Luck and Good Flying- Rich Gillock (460)

Log This
Robert L. Michael wrote- " I was wondering if their are any plans to operate on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend?"
-Good question, Bob -I haven't heard any discussion of it. I won't be here at all that week, so I can't instruct or help out. To badly paraphrase the Scriptures, "Where two or three are gathered together, lo, soaring is with us". I mean that any combination of at least two people to "DO/ADO" plus a towpilot, there's no reason to not "announce your own operation". So -anyone else out there want to "do" the Friday after Turkey-day? Just get together and "do it".

Mai Scott (Jan's wife) has several copies of Derek Piggott's excellent text on ground launches. Linn and I used it as one of several primary sources of information while working on the program for auto tows. Instructors (or others) who'd like a copy can get one for $15 from Mai (Jan Scott <flycow@ibm.net>). I recommend it as an addition to any instructor's library.

I have e-mail making it unanimous to make Fred Daams an honorary member for the purpose of towing on Thursdays. I have alerted Lisa and I have solicited Fred specifically with some Thursday dates. I have also started a file to try to keep track of "Electronic Board Actions".

With Tim and Lisa's departure in January, there'll be an opening in my hangar for an assembled glider ($75/month) or up to three trailers ($25/month). Long term lease or month-to-month.

The Club's sun canopy (I think that was a Joe Rees' contribution, wasn't it??) is really in sad shape! I think that at some time or another every component in it has failed! Unless someone's got one they want to get rid of, we'd better buy a new one for next Spring.
-Jim Kellett

New Members
Fred Daams (540) 886-6690
John D. Lewis, (540) 662-4562 <johndl@mnsinc.com>
Robert L. Michael, (540) 891-6448 <rmike@interserf.net>
Leroy F. Rogers, (540) 338-2070

Indulge the Editor-time-Lisa and Tim's move to Memphis reminds me of my very first flight. It was from Tulsa to Memphis. My father had recently returned from 3H years in the South Pacific and I was joining him for a summers' fishing on the Gulf Coast. My mom put me on a DC-3 at Tulsa and asked the flight attendant to watch over me. As the first engine kicked over with a belch of smoke that put every Osage to the Kansas border on red alert, the stewardess clutched my arm and said "don't be afraid!" I said "hell lady it'll take a lot more than that to scare me." I don't think my first solo was that exciting.

We'll miss you guys, particularly your Italian friend-you all add a shot of color to the club
-Phil

I would like to hear your experience of the very first time you flew. I suspect we've all been blessed/cursed (?) with this defective gene that make us just as comfortable in the air as on the land, a characteristic that appalls, mystifies and intriques those not simularly endowed. I'll bet the members of this club have some interesting first flight experiences that.each would like to share. Let me have yours by e-mail (pja@his.com) or through snail mail.
-Phil