President's Prerogative
Although summer is barely over it is not too early to think about our annual meeting in January. Now, before you start thinking I should spend more time under the sunshade when I am at the field, there is a serious purpose to starting the thought process now. After lingering around 40 members for several years, we are now at 52 and growing as we head for the magic number 60 (sort of like watching Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire). This growth means that there are opportunities for members to participate in the governance of the club. In order for a club to be successful every member should participate in club affairs both to spread the work and to ensure that the governance of the club is as broad-based as possible. Think about the direction you would like the club to go and whether you would like to serve as a director. Come to a board meeting (next meeting 10:00 am Oct 17 at the field) or talk to a current director about governance and your role.

Duty Officers-
Ralph Vawter has graciously accepted the responsibility of the CINCDO (Commander-in-Chief, Duty Officers). I know that some of you think the DO is there to haul your glider out and run the wing but the real responsibility is safety. We are an accident free club and this is due, in large measure, to the attitude the members have during operations but also to the fact that the number one DO responsibility is safety.

Maintenance Corner
For the last two years we have had a roster of DOs with the idea that a limited number would improve communication among those members who are responsible for everything that happens during operations. We have already taken some measures to improve the situation by creating a DO network to make communications among the DOs easier.

We are going to try to improve the efficiency of the operations by making sure there are tow lists on busy days; that gliders are staged properly; and that pilots are ready to fly when the tow plane is in the pattern. Not only can we can improve the efficiency of the operation and increase the number of tows, but by doing so, we will increase situational awareness and that creates a safer operation.

The responsibility for a safe and efficient operation lies not only with the DO but with all members. If you see ways you think the operation can be improved talk to Ralph.
-Joe Rees

Tow Rope Alert!
We have embarked Phase One of a three phase program to upgrade our tow ropes. HEADS UP!! You will find THREE ropes-on-reels. One is an older, 5/16" rope. The other two are brand new 3/8" ropes which have a significantly higher strength than the 5/16" rope. You will find a total of THREE "weak links", two of 5/16" rope with Tost rings and one of 1/4" rope with a Schweizer ring. The latter one, made of 1/4"rope, is to be used ONLY for the Sprite or one of the 1-26s flown by private owners.

Guidelines: The 2-33 can be towed with ANY of the three ropes w/o any links The K-21 can be towed with ANY of the three ropes plus a Tost link The Sprite can be towed with (a) the 5/16" rope w/o any link or (b) either of the two new ropes with the 1/4" Schweizer link.

Note: Phase Two will be implemented later this year with metal safety links on BOTH ends of the stronger polypro ropes, bringing us to a state which is not only safe but in full compliance with the letter of the CFR.

Phase Three will be implemented next spring when we replace the polypro ropes with a stronger more durable rope yet to be selected.
-Jim Kellett

1998 DuPont Regatta Wrap-up

My dear Soaring friends,

Well its all over now,the 29th Annual DuPont Regatta is history and if you attended I hope you had a good time.The weather on Friday did not allow us to fly,although one hardy soul,Kirby Nelson had to give it a try.The clouds were low most of the day with lots of haze. Saturday and Sunday turned better and actually we made 27 tows on the 19th and 21 on the 20th,not counting the Skyline tows going home. Skyline made 20 of the tows while SVS made 28.

The picnic in the hangar was quite a success with 65 plus people enjoying the food and then the Square Dance.Our friend "Cowboy" was at his best as usual and even trying to teach some courageous souls in the audience to stretch their legs and go around in circles!

The flying was not too bad on Saturday but the thermals left something to be desired.Kirby flew the longest that day 1:07 hrs. We had a wonderful meal on Saturday night at the South River Restau- rant with Robert Ball of MAS giving us some insight about the wor- kings of the SSA and the National Soaring Museum.

Although it was hazy on Sunday,especially at sunup it was possible to soar quite well.Getting off at 12 o'clock we made 20 flights, with one of them landing 15 NM.south of Frederick and that was none other than Len Dolhert.As everyone was anxious to head for home the Award Ceremony was held at 4 PM.The following awards were handed out by the writer of this short report.

No.1 in Spotlanding	Shane Neitzey. 1&5/16"
No.1 in Endurance	Lou McDonald. 3:18 hrs.
No.1 in O&R miles	Lou McDonald App.100 mls.
No.1 in Altitude	Jim Kellett 5800ft.
Most beautiful Vintage Sailplane,	KA-6,Bruce Barrett.
Oldest Vintage sailplane,	Pratt Read,Jack Hilton.
Second oldest sailplane,Schleicher	KA-4,Bill Cloughley.
No.1 in Speed Task,	1-26 at 95mph Handycap speed, Bill Vickland
...And of course the Big Trophy will go to Len Dolhert for his great effort to fly to Frederick and almost making it,landing within 15 miles of his goal.

Here's a quick rundown on the expenses:

Total funds received	$2946.00	+
Meals Friday and Saturday night	$1871.00	-
Trophies & ribbons	$ 106.59	-
Skyline 20 tows @ $20.	$ 400.00	-
SVS 28 tows @ $20.	$ 560.00	-
Balance	$ 8.41

The FBO might still want us to share in the rental of the electronis equipment,but he has not received the bill as yet. So that might put slightly in the red.

So there you have it folks,we all had a great time and again thanks for coming and supporting the Richard DuPont Memorial Regatta
Fred. [Daams]

Meet the Member-Gary Shepherd

"I was born on a foggy night in London (editor's note: is there any other kind in London?)in 1963 and spent my formative years hanging around airports collecting aircraft registrations (a bit like train spotting only marginally less nerdy). When I was 12 someone suggested I join the Air Training Corps, a Royal Air force supported youth organization that is designed to mold impressionable young minds into wanting to serve queen and country in the youngest of our armed forces. So twice a week we would meet to learn about aircraft, the theory of flight, weather and do a bit of square bashing (marching around in perfect unison to no place in particular) and on the special weekends FLY!

" My first glider flight was in a Slingsby T21B Sedburgh. I was 12. It was a winch launch to about 800 feet on a cold gray English morning and I remember it took longer to strap me in and place the ballast in the nose than it did to go up, go around and land. But we did get to have three launches. I remember being very envious of the 16 year olds having lessons and decided to learn to fly gliders at the earliest opportunity.

"On other occasions we went powered flying at Cambridge in Chipmunk aircraft. One of the older Cadets told me that if you ask the pilot for an aerobatic flight you got a longer flight, so at about 13 I was sitting in the back of a Chipmunk aircraft doing loops, barrel rolls and stall turns. My cadet advisor was most disappointed when I returned with the longest flight of the day and no barf bag in hand. At the pre flight briefing you are told how to use a parachute, (one of those that you sit on and when all the straps are tight you can only waddle awkwardly) a pilot's crash helmet and a sick bag. If you should happen to miss the bag you are responsible for cleaning the aircraft and suffering the abuse from the other cadets cause the aircraft is grounded 'til you are done. At 16 I was old enough to be selectedfor glider flight training. Sadly in the 4 years since my first flight the Sedburghs had been sold off and Motor Faulke self launching gliders were used instead. Every weekend I would ride three different buses to get to the airfield or hitch hike, and spend the day doing circuits and bumps in the Faulke. Full throttle, climb out and finish cross wind at 1000 feet, stop the engine on downwind, base, final and land. I was first in my class to solo which was a huge mistake cause once you had flown a solo circuit they shook your hand, gave you the pilot wings for your uniform and said goodbye. I managed to talk my father into paying for a week long course at the London Gliding club and flew in an ASK13. Every weekend after that I washed dishes and did all the dirty work at the club to get lessons in the K13. I found out quickly that the air force hadn't really taught me to fly and began again learning to fly real gliders.

"The tradition at the club was for the new solo student to buy the whole bar a drink. This was an expensive proposition for a student so my instructor told me it wasn't necessary. But I didn't want to break with tradition so off we went to the bar where he ordered a Remy Martin Cognac probably the most expensive drink they had. However with me as the student he earned it. Aero tows, although available, were much too expensive and all of my solo flights were winch launches and ridge soaring. Once the challenge of learning to fly was gone, I drifted away from flying and found new challenges that normally involved Saturday nights, pubs and clubs and girls. When the sad day arrived of me having to work for a living flying, was just a pleasant memory."

"I am now married and have two children, a son who is 6 and a daughter 2. A career in Export sales of capital equipment has allowed me to travel all over the world, at someone else's expense, and brought me to Richmond, Va in 1996. My brief was to set up and manage the North American subsidiary for my employer, a British/German manufacturer of specialized fork lift trucks. " A show on PBS about the guy trying to home build an aircraft in 30 days [see inset, -web Ed.] led me to a web page that linked to SSA and Skyline soaring. Now I'm trying to relearn almost forgotten skills and cursing the fact that I gave it all up in the first place." -Gary Shepherd

From the PBS website: Build a plane in 30 days? That's just what Bob tried to do in his latest TV special, "Plane Crazy."

Rights

To: Larry Sanderson, President, The Soaring Society of America, Inc. Thank goodness I lived long enough to read your September editorial. I became a soaring pilot and, coincidentally, a Federal bureaucrat (not with the FAA) in 1966. I'm still a soaring pilot. Thirty years experience in both roles provided me with a deeply sanguine-bordering on cynical-conviction about the nature of the bureaucracy in general and the governmental aviation bureaucracy specifically. It is not a pretty picture. In your editorial, you correctly observe that "...we are free to engage in our activity so long as our behavior does not pose undue and unreasonable risk to others." Well said. That phrase also defines the battleground-that on which we define "undue and unreasonable risk". Over the years, we've seen the public perception of what is "undue and unreasonable risk" become comically absurd. That's another story. But it applies here and in this case because one manifestation of that change is that Americans now expect to travel-and travel by air-without any risk at all. American air carriers promote that concept with enthusiasm, for the obvious reason that it increases business. The Federal government, despite our ideological definitions of democracy, acts to protect the financial interests of corporate America. And even if it worked to implement the will of the majority of individuals, the unfortunate fact remains that a real majority of individuals have been led to genuinely believe that flying is properly performed only by big business and the military (not by mere citizens). The inescapable conclusion is that any flying at all by anyone other than the military and/or the scheduled air carriers brings with it "undue and unreasonable risk to others". Solution? Ban themall. The apparent goal of the Federal government has been, and still is, the elimination of any general aviation operations by imposing many restrictive, vague, paradoxical, unnecessary, and inappropriate rules and regulations. In so doing, they will have, at low cost to the government or the air carriers, made air travel safer for them by pressuring the rest of us "sit on a fence and watch the birds". The fact that many rules are appropriate and necessary does not justify the myriad complex, unenforceable, and counterproductive rules that pour out of Washington daily. Any campaign to keep soaring viable that does not recognize this force of nature is doomed to failure before it begins. There you have it. We are faced with a contest on a very slippery field in which your teammates in the aviation community may not always be your friends and the umpire has little or no real knowledge of flying or interest in promoting any form of general aviation. Even when fighting by the rules (e.g., "within the system") it is highly likely that we are still working toward the demise of soaring. These are not arguments against making the effort. They are arguments for as forceful and vigorous campaign as can be mustered, for the difficulty of preserving our rights is far, far greater than most pilots realize. And a public component of such a campaign is critical-we need more voices than ours to get the attention of the government. Plant your stake hard, and hang on. It'll be an expensive and long campaign, but it must be done. Jim Kellett

Senate Heaves "Hoover Bill" in Close Vote
Close, but no Cigar.
The Senate last week rejected an amendment designed to roll back the FAA's extraordinary airman certificate revocation powers. The amendment, offered by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) during consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill, failed 46-51, with three senators absent. Inhofe's amendment is known as the "Hoover Bill" in honor of former test pilot and airshow star Bob Hoover whose infamous mid-1990s entanglement with the FAA's emergency revocation authority made him a poster child for FAA enforcement abuses. The Hoover Bill is designed to address the FAA's (choose one or all) bureaucracy, stubbornness, refusal to acknowledge facts, and/or combativeness toward pilots.
-AV Flash

The Full Circle

One fine hot summer's afternoon saw a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield. The instructor was getting quite bothered with the student's inability to hold circuit height in the thermals and was getting impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna 5,000 feet above him and thought "another 1,000 hours of this and I qualify for that twin charter job! Aaahh... to be a real pilot going somewhere!"

The Cessna 402 was already late and the boss told him this charter was for one of the company's premier clients. He'd already set MCT and the cylinders didn't like it in the heat of this summer's day. He was at 6,000 feet and the winds were now a 20 kt head wind. Today was the sixth day straight and he was pretty damn tired. Maybe if he got 10,000 feet out of them, the wind might die off... geez, those cylinder temps!

He looked out momentarily and saw a B-737 leaving a contrail at 33,000 feet in the serene blue sky. "Oh man", he thought, "my interview is next month. I just hope I don't blow it! Outa general aviation, nice jet job, above the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for... aahh."

The Boeing 737 bucked and waved in the heavy CAT at FL 3 30 and ATC advised that lower levels were not available due to traffic. The Captain, who was only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums, had slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible inflight diversion, and arrange an ETA that would helpfully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was going to take a damn paycut. The FOs will be particularly hard hit as their pay wasn't anything to speak of, anyway.

Finally deciding on a speed compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the Captain looked up and saw Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his FO's shoulder as the 737 took another bashing, he said, "Now THAT'S what we should be on... huge pay packet... super fast... not too many routes... not too many sectors... above the CAT... yep! What a life...!"

FL 590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL 570. Already the TAT was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down. That damn rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the FE had said moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he'd like to see. Concorde descended to FL 570 but the radiation was still quite high even though the NOTAM indicated hunky dory below FL 610. Fuel flow as up and the transfer pump was intermittent.

Evening turned into night as they passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the FO could see a tiny white dot moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey Captain", he called as he pointed, "must be the shuttle".

The Captain looked for a moment and agreed. Quietly he thought how a shuttle mission, whilst complicated, must be the be all and end all in aviation. Above the crap, no radiation problems, no damn fuel transfer problems... aahh. Must be a great way to earn a quid. Discovery was in its 27th orbit and perigee was 200 feet out from nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually U/S and a walk may become necessary. The 200 feet predicted error would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk was to be required. Houston continually asked what the Commander wanted to do but the advice they proffered wasn't much help.

The Commander had already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10 bloody minutes to himself to take a leak. Just then a mission specialist, who had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the Commander to the scope. "Have a look at this, Sir, isn't this the kind of flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?"

The Commander peered through the telescope and cried, "Ooohhh yeah! Now THAT'S flying! Man, that's what it's all about! Geez I'd love to be doing THAT down there!"

What the Discovery Commander was looking at was a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield on a nice bright sunny afternoon.
-Author Unknown

This is an article that appeared in my pilots association magazine. I am reminded of it whenever someone oohs and aahs about flying for the airlines. The true flying starts at the end of a 200 foot rope at a country airfield in Virginia
-Fred Mueller

"I was mighty high..." or was that high and mighty?
As many of you know, I am an airline pilot, a first officer (copilot) for US Airways. My flying partner for a trip pairing I finished up September 22nd turned out to be a glider pilot and tow pilot in New Hampshire. I spent most of the 3 day trip talking to him excitedly about our club. He shared some stories about towing and about some soaring adventures in wave.

Our company routes normally do not take us near New Market but today we received a nice re-route from Washington Center onto the Finks Six arrival into DCA. This arrival includes a 15,000 ft altitude restriction at the Doccs intersection, just northeast of 8W2. There had been several undercast clouds, mostly Cu and lennies (!) from all the wave in the area, but 8W2 was in the clear. It looked just beautiful from 18,000 ft. as you wave veterans I'm sure know! I was proud to be able to point it out to the Captain and show him our airport and ridge.

I really like my job; it's filled with lots of responsibility and challenge. But for the pure pleasure of flying, be assured soaring has flying the heavies beat hands down. Looking at 8W2 from on high in my 737 I would have traded in a second to be in Miss Daisy in 60 degrees of bank in 8 knots of lift 12,000 ft below where I was. It was a great view though, and they pay me well so I can spend some off days with all of you.
-Mike Cordova

Any one you can walk away from...
Take a look at the Safety Corner in the March issue of Soaring for yet another example of the inherent safety associated with learning to soar in a 1-26. The pilot of this 1-26 flew into a cloud in class B airspace, presumably became disoriented and ripped the right wing off the glider in a spiral dive. Les Schweizer says that he had to pull more than 13 Gs to break the wing the way he did. Yet the pilot walked away from it. If you want to see the glider itself, come on up to John Ayers'.

There are endless anecdotes about such accidents in the 1-26 such as the woman in Ohio who had a mid-air collision with her husband's BG-12 who failed to turn away soon enough after diving at her head-on. Her 1-26 wing was sheared at the spoiler box. She spun it down and suffered only a broken or sprained ankle and some head wounds where her head hit the canopy.

Then there's the case of Pat Denaples who was rear ended by a DG-200 that killed that pilot. The 1-26 fuselage was so distorted that it would only fly inverted. Without a parachute, Pat flew inverted into the trees and suffered only a fractured knee where it hit the lower edge of the instrument panel. Many years ago a young 1-26 pilot tried to stretch his glide over a shopping mall. Misjudging his height, his wing collided with a vertical pipe which spun him around onto the ground 30 feet below. He walked away. In a 1979 off-field tow accident that killed the tow pilot, I was forced to release at low altitude and flew into trees that sheared my left wing in half. I had a sore back, but I walked away.

My point for student pilots is this. After you learn to fly, learn to soar safely in what is undoubtedly one of the safest gliders available. Don't be in a hurry to "move up" into glass birds, which offer far less protection from personal injury. As you will note from the above, not all accidents are of the pilots own doing, and you can't control what others around you might do. You would be wise to invest in a 1-26 to fly at least for a couple of years. It is clearly the best glider to learn cross country soaring. You can always sell it for the price you paid for it, and you may even discover that the "fun factor" is even greater in the low cost 1-26. It is also a great way to get into competition. The 1-26 Association hosts an annual contest that attracts from 30 to 50 gliders. The group, although competitive, is a close knit organization with a spirit not unlike the EAA groups. Our annual event brings together people from all across the country that have become close friends. Whether the soaring is great or not, these events are always fun events because the group so enjoys the company of the other 1-26 pilots and crews.
-Bill Vickland

A 1-26 in Italy
After many months of procrastination, "Blackbird" (SGS 1-26A, s/n 021) was finally repainted red and cream and shipped off to Europe to live for a few years. It was somewhat difficult at first to part with this special (to me) glider. It helped me fly my silver distance some years back. I formed a club with it including myself, my husband Lee, Albert Uster, Bob Gaines, George Nuse, Jeff Byard, and George Byard. We are scattered about across the country, but five of us met in Pavullo, Italy the end of June to fly this glider in the 3rd Luigi Teichfuss Vintage Glider Rally. (Teichfuss was an Italian soaring pioneer). Pavullo is south of Modena in northern Italy, in the foothills of the Appennines. The soaring was excellent with strong thermals and wave most days. We flew the glider fitted with the sport canopy (open cockpit) most of the time. The scenery was spectacular!

Vincenzo Pedrielli, a modeler very interested in vintage gliders, organized the rally. There were a number of gliders from Switzerland and Germany, and enthusiasts from several other countries as well. We did a little touring with excursions to the cities of Lucca and Pisa and to the Ferrari museum.

This part of Italy is known for balsamic vinegar, Lambrusco wine, and Parmesan cheese. I gained almost four pounds in two weeks! But it was worth it! We stayed in a hotel near the glider field that used tobe a sanitarium. It was situated on a hill with wonderful views. The price worked out to about $25 per night including breakfast. It's hard to find a bargain like that anywhere!

The glider now resides with a glider club in northern Germany. Next summer, we will fly it in that area at the annual Vintage Glider Club rally. As far as I know, this is the only 1-26 flying in Europe. And, I'm proud to say, it out thermalled every other glider at the Italian rally. It was also the object of much attention, not only because it was so spiffy looking, but also because it is a classic American design. We are planning to leave it in Europe for a few years to fly each summer at the annual VCG events. It's always an adventure to soar in other countries, and I recommend it to any pilot willing to try something different. (But that's a subject for another article).
-Linn Buell

Mo Better One Twenty Six Stories
Sunday, September 5. Jim Garrison (ASW-19, L/D 38:1) and Jim Kellett (Cirrus, L/D 44:1) messed around the airport and abandoned a proposed trip to New Castle for the Boomerang. Of course, they flew ca. 4.5 hours and 3.0 hours respectively. "Not good enough day for a good cross country". Bob Collier, on the other hand, took a tow to 1,400 AGL over the airport in a 1-26 (L/D 20:1) and proceeded to fly to Waynesboro, VA-a field about 300' HIGHER than New Market-for what would have been, had he bothered to document it, a Silver C distance flight. (He cadged a ride from Waynesboro with Bob Locke in his Luscombe, then drove back with his wife Tracy for the retrieve.) Blue thermals. Not a cloud in the sky. Where was the Sprite (L/D 30:1)?? Where were you?? Go figure. (All you reprobates should have been in church-Editor).

Repainting A Living Legend
Painting of the 2-33 is going to be delayed until we shut down for the season. Aside from the limited time I have had available to do the job, there always seemed to be a glitch with either the weather, the availability of bodies to assist in the job or the reluctance to take the 2-33 out of operation for two or three weeks. Until now, I had not considered doing it during the off season because the weather would be too cold to permit a good paint job. However, Shane's offer to let us paint the 2-33 in his paint shop eliminates the weather problem and will allow us to do the job without removing it from operation.

So here is the drill. On the first weekend in December, following the end of the season, I would like to see a major work group at the field to accomplish several tasks. First we will disassemble the ship, removing the wings, the elevator and rudder. We will mount the wings on saw horses in the hangar and part of the work group will polish the wing surfaces. I hope we can find two or three power buffers among our members to tackle this task. The wings do not need painting except for the trim on the tips. Part of the group will strip the fuselage of old paint. At the end of the day, I would hope to have the wings ready to paint trim and the fuselage ready for priming. I will take the fuselage home to prime and hopefully take it to Shane's the following weekend. At that point, I will need four or five volunteers to handle the fuselage and wings in Shane's shop. Painting in Shane's shop may take two or three days in order to complete the base coat of white and three trim colors. However, we will have to remove it at the end of each day so that it won't interfere with Shane's operation. The preparation work, masking and clean up will require a large team, so be prepared to come out and lend a hand.

Because we will not be flying at that point, I hope to see lots of volunteers to help out. This is a great opportunity for new members to get involved in a fun project. In mid November, I will put out a call for volunteers and hope to see most of you out there at least one of the three or four days that will be required to finish the job. See you then.
-Bill Vickland

Log this...

• Check out the calendar section of Barnes & Noble book store for the 1999 Calendar Women and Flight. Our own Linn Buellis featured along with 11 other extremely accomplished pilots. And if you haven't got a copy yet, pick up the book Women and Flight by Carolyn Russo. This is a wonderful photo essay devoted to contemporary women pilots and features a chapter on Linn and her 1-26 before the plane got its new paint job.



• Duty Officers and Pretenders pay close attention-If a non-member wants to fly, they must pay $20.00 temporary member fee and fill out the application. Be sure to check expiration date on temporary membership cards. It is good for 10 days from date of issue. Some people are flying beyond that time without paying dues.

  Sharing DO duties is great, but please list only 1 name on the log. There is only 1 tow ticket per day and I need to know who gets credit. If a member includes a tow ticket, please change "cost of tow" to 0.
  -Stacy Barber




• Gentle readers and 2-33 afficiados-I have succeeded on my quest for the missing 2-33 pin. So I got two. I will safety wire one into Miss Daisy (a painless operation) and put the spare one in the cupboard.



• On another subject: Monarch butterflies are mighty migrators. They fly south in the fall to Mexico or California, going 80 miles (124 km) per day! How do they do it? Monarchs use thermals to get a free lift up to the sky. They soar along on the thermals, just as hawks and eagles do.
  - David Brunner



• And the following from a sometimes contributor: Did you read in this month's Soaring by David Gibo, "Tactics and Vectors-Flight Tactics of Migrating Monarch Butterflies"? There was more than a little serendipity on Friday the 18th. The grey sky was filled with migrating Monarchs! All afternoon these bold little critters flittered by at near ground level (e.g., up to about 30 feet which is probably about as far as you can seen them). Only aircraft that were really enjoying the day!
  There were a few on Saturday and Sunday, but not so visible. On all days we were privileged to play with migrating raptors-there was a steady stream of them on a roughly north-south course. Yours truly got suckered significantly by trying to follow them on Saturday-only to discover that they, when they ran out of lift, simply flapped their wings and left me floundering!
  -Jim Kellett



• Welcome new member R. Ben Adams whose address is 2029 Tamani Dr., Herndon, VA 20170 home phone is (703) 478-0770 e-mail: BA4766@aol.com



• Welcome new member Gary Shepherd whose address is 11741 Park Forest Ct., Glen Allen, VA 23060 home phone is (804) 364-3471 e-mail: boss13@erols.com



• Dave Weaver has a new house: 3889 Mohr Oak Court, Fairfax, VA 22033, (703) 352-0638.
  
  
• You saw the first ad in this month's Soaring for the fabulous 1999 SSA calendar. Now here's a deal that reflects still another benefit of our Club being a SSA Chapter!




We have ordered 50 calendars which should be available by the end of this month. If you order one from SSA, you pay $14.20 ($9.95 + $4.25 S&H). If you buy one through the Club, you pay a flat $10!! And-get this-the Club actually makes money on the deal! Is this a win-win situation, or what?!?

Taking reservations now for delivery on or about October 15. Think ahead for Christmas!
- Jim@kellett.com