I have asked Kevin Fleet to take charge of the hangar modifications which have turned out to be a little more complicated than we originally thought. It also occurred to me that club members may have questions or requests about the hangars and I would ask you to direct them to Kevin rather than going directly to the FBO. During this transition time one voice for the club to airport management will keep any possible confusion to a minimum while we settle in to our new field.

With the very best wishes for a Happy New Year
-- Joe Rees

The annual meeting of Skyline Soaring will be at the Front Royal Airport Terminal Building at 1pm on Saturday, January 30th. Obviously there are many new issues that will have impact on each member so it is in everyone's best interest to be there. Be sure to bring your own chair.

Many of the articles in this issue deal with with some of the new considerations we'll meet at FRR. At this point in time not all procedures and issues are fully resolved. Some of the articles are a week or more old and probably updated by email before you get the newsletter. We can expect updated info on many different aspects of operations at FRR as the various responsible individuals have time to work out the problems.

In the meantime, be certain to go through Kevin on anything dealing with the FBO and/or facilities and procedures at FRR.

Call for Contributions

Does anyone have "furniture" they'd like to donate to the hangar?? I'm sure most of us have "stuff" sitting in the basement 'because you might need it someday"!!

I'm thinking we could use a good solid desk, some good solid worktables or benches (free standing), maybe a filing cabinet, storage cabinet, maybe even a floor lamp and possibly some more chairs.

NOW-before we all start hauling our junk out to the airport, PLEASE share a list of what you might donate with Kevin Fleet first-that way he can pick the most appropriate stuff that'll meet the Club's needs. Thanks a Bunch !-Before I'm overcome with tons of stuff, let's make a list. And while the list is being made, we'll move gliders with dollies, mark dollie tracks, figure wing overlap, arrange trailers, etc.-see what I mean? We've got a lot of work to do before we start moving stuff in and getting it in the way. Once we have the hangers figured out, we can select from the (by that time) lengthy list. We appreciate any/all additions to the list.

Thanks-the recently 'nominated' "facilities weenie"
-- Kevin Fleet

I did a Cessna 152 checkout recently with Reginald Cassagnol. We flew around the area and discussed proposed Glider Operations for the Front Royal area. I have prepared a drawing to illustrate the proposed operations setup and to illustrate basic procedures for landing and takeoff. Basically, the gliders will make Right Hand Patterns and the Power Traffic will make the normal Left Hand Pattern. All normal activities will be on Runway 27, as the weather associated with East Winds is not the kind of weather we will be flying in-and it's rare.

There is a pond about one mile north west of the airport which will make a very good "IP" for entering a Right Downwind (Runway 27)... we will land in the grass area between the paved runway and the unpaved taxiway. If you haven't got a copy of the drawing e-mail ><a href="../src/compose.php?send_to=rmike@erols.com">rmike@erols.com</a><.

There are options for connecting with ridge action. Talk to the old-timers who have flown at FRR. We will need to take notes and seek out the loiter areas (house thermal areas, etc.)... but the basic plan is to approach the airport from the northwest so as to avoid the sink areas in the wind shadow of the ridge... again, we'll get insights from those who have flown in the area.
-- Bob Michael

There is good news and not so good news. The good news is that the Pawnee is in Burlington and we may have it back in about three weeks with new engine. The exhaust manifold has at least two cracks and needs to be welded and heat treated. This may cost upwardsof $800. Also, the type certificate of the Pawnee requires that a spinner be installed. That's going to be about $500.

The bad news is that the Pawnee has a rip in the fuselage fabric six or eight feet long down the belly of the fuselage. Does anyone know it happened.??? Without the repair, the annual inspection cannot certify the ship to be airworthy. Because the fabric work cannot be performed by the engine shop, the annual inspection cannot be performed until the Pawnee returns to FRR. This means that we will have to arrange for the repair, and once completed, then arrange for the annual inspection. We have until February. The fabric work if done by Andy will increase the cost of the annual inspection by about $800. I propose that we undertake the repair of the rib and fabric. I will contact John Muia at FRR and if he will serve as IA, we can do the work ourselves. We will need a compressor for this work which can also be used in completing the painting of the Pawnee trim and the 2-33, as well as general maintenance work in the future. We would still do the final coat of the 2-33 at Shane's. If the club will sustain the cost ($300) of a new compressor to be installed in the hangar, we can save at least twice that cost in the repairs.

Finally, does anyone know the whereabouts of the Pawnee airframe logbook? I retrieved the engine logbook from the plastic file case that used to be located in the tow car. The airframe log was not there. Someone should have made entries in it for the engine mount work that was done while I was gone. We must have the logbook to deliver to the engine ship right away. Anyone who has any recollection, please let me know.

I share Jim Kellett's sense (or is it sentence) of urgency regarding both the Pawnee and the 2-33. If you look at the numbers, we will need to check out about 50 pilots before we can really get down to training and other fun flying. We will need the Pawnee and the 2-33 as well as the K in order to complete this process in a reasonable time frame. The problem is that I am in control of the real obstacles to getting that process underway, and I have been forbidden to even consider the possibility of starting to work on the 2-33 before December 25. I am also warned not to discuss doing anything between then and New Years although much of this spousal control is not predicated on any particular conflict in social schedules.

The Pawnee engine is being installed right now and we don't anticipate any delay except to replace the exhaust system and spinner. Therefore, I expect that we might have it back in the area at least by Jan 15. The Pawnee will be flown back to Warrenton where we will get the annual inspection completed by Andy, and where I will repair the bent rib and the other fabric damage. We will be able to make the Pawnee airworthy but will not be able to paint the repaired fabric. I could use one person to assist in this process, although it is not critical. The work would have to be done during the week when Andy is open for business. This work will not interfere with the 2-33 schedule if we can complete most of the 2-33 work before the Pawnee comes back.

Miss Daisy's New Dress

Jim Kellett, Serge Kohudic, Jim Miles, Bob Downin, Bob Collier, Janice Farr and I spent about six hours with Miss Daisy. As a result, we will start the season with an entirely new Miss Daisy. While stripping the paint yesterday, in preparation to paint her up, we discovered that the 22 year old fabric, while patchable, was really not terribly strong. We made a decision on the spot not to waste any more time pealing paint and so we removed the old fabric. A new Ceconite envelope will cost about $115 plus shipping and will probably not require any more work than patching the old fabric. The cost of chemicals is a wash because we would have used the same amount in patching and painting. I removed the instrument panel and we will paint on a new Krinkle Black surface. We will annual it as part of the IA sign off and won't have to do the annual mid year.

Kellett and his Detailers have polished out one wing and started the second. They will look like new. I have the new canopy in hand and we'll install it after painting all of the various parts. Charlie Shoenduby will do a preliminary inspection on Saturday at 10:00 AM and will give us the go ahead to cover it. I will be there Saturday morning at about 9:30 and will do a little work on it while Charlie looks it over. If anyone is available, we can make it a short work day. I have to leave by 1:30.

We are scheduling another work day on Sunday. Let me know if you can volunteer. I will be out at FRR by 10:30 AM and we will work until 3:30 or so.

Jim Kellett may make an unscheduled work day to finish polishing the remaining wing. He will put out a call for his unscheduled workday, Stay tuned if you might also be available when Jim calls.

The actual covering will take up to six or eight work days including painting at Shane's.

Day 1, Sunday, we will clean up all of the steel tubing, sand out the rusty spots and paint with primer, and also sand and fill the nose cone. If we have enough people, we will remove the glass from the side windows and sand the tail surfaces and struts for painting. With enough help, we might do most, but not all Day 2 tasks

Day 2 we will paint all of the tubing with epoxy primer or enamel and paint all of the interior surfaces. It will be a short day unless we are still doing the control surfaces.

Day 3 we will install the fabric envelope, shrink it into place and finish taping the corners. I hope to do this on a weekend so John Ayers can participate. Jim Miles has also done some fabric work and it would be great if we could schedule to meet his availability. This is a day for anyone who wants to learn something about recovering. There are always tasks that need to be done, so help is needed.

Day 4 we will iron out the taped joints, do a final shrink on the fabric and do as many spray coats of primer as possible, sanding between some coats. This will depend on how rapidly it dries. If we can keep the hangar warm it will dry quickly. It is possible that we can do day 3 and 4 together.

Day 5 and 6 we will paint it and all parts at Shane's. This is a two day weekend affair, especially if we do the trim as well as the white.

Day 7 and 8 we will install all of the parts and reassemble. This may be optimistic because there is always a glitch in the planning.

In any case, if we can spend two days a week on it, it will be flyable by the end of January or maybe sooner. If we can spend up to three days a week on it, we can have it flying by January 20, which is about the time the Pawnee will be available.

There can be lots of great flying in January and we have hordes of people who will need check rides. Lets do it.
-- Bill Vickland

The doors at our new hangers are monsters-very expensive, and the problems with wind are very real. It will require the help of every member to be constantly aware of open doors.

Caution: It became immediately apparent that, with some interior walls down, the wind can pose hazards that aren't revealed with the interior walls in place!! As a general rule, with only one hangar door open on each side, there can be winds inside the hangar moving planes around as easily as if they were sitting in the open! This is major hazardous so please get the mind-set right now to not leave hangar doors open!!

We had the door to the storeroom and the #1-hanger door open at the same time. With the wall down between them and the fairly stiff winds blowing, a serious "venturi" got started with high winds screaming thru the hanger. O.K., that may be a little exaggeration, but we did have some stiff winds in the hanger. As gusts would come and go you could see the walls of the hanger move. So, we closed the storeroom door and things quieted down. We're going to have to watch this closely. There could be potentially destructive winds in our "cavern", to both equipment, and the hanger structure. Pass the word. We will have standard procedures for members to follow before long.
-- Kevin Fleet

then Dave Brunner would win 'Rookie of the Year" hands down.

First flight with SSC on July 5. Soloed on August 13. Attended first Board Meeting (and as a result, immediately ordained "Chief Battery Weenie"). Organized a syndicate within the club and became one of five members who now own a 1-26 as of November 30. Bronze Badge in late November. Self-study and then a score of 100% on the PPL written on December 2. Private pilot license on December 6. Chief Oberfuhrer of the Club's move from 8W2 to FRR on December 12.

This seems to me to be a man who has his priorities clearly in order!!

Well done, Dave.
-- Jim Kellett

Sunday November 22nd I was supposed to be flying a towplane at New Market, but I was geographically prohibited from fulfilling my duty. So I did the next best thing; I located the nearest gliderport and went flying. I flew with the Trier-Konz Aeroclub in Konz, Germany. The club airfield is located 10 km south of the confluence of the Mosel and Saar rivers. They have a great airport all to themselves and a hangar full of nice airplanes. They include a KA-7, KA-8, ASK-21, Astir CS, LS4b, Hornet, and a C-Falke 2000 motorglider. They do winch tows, as well as aerotows with an Aerospatiale Morane. They have camping on the airfield and they have a nice clubhouse with Bitburger Pils on tap:-) If you're in the area stop in, take a flight, and drink some beer with them.
-- Ken Zugel

Shopping for a glider? Shopping for instruments for a glider? Learning to fly? Interested in soaring? EVER HEARD OF A GLIDER?

If the answer to ANY of these questions is "YES" or "MAYBE", then you should be setting aside four days in February to attend the SSA Convention in Knoxville-WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE!!

There is nothing like an SSA/SSF Safety Seminar-or the exposition floor-or the lunches with "legends" that are just wandering around all over the place. Have a beer with Dave Ellis (Cambridge Varios-his annual presentations are more informative than any glider ground school I've seen!!) Sit at the table with Tilo Holighouse (the wunderkinder who's running Schempp-Hirth). Endure the arrogance of the Schleicher dealers in the flesh! SEE TOM KNAUFF FROM A DISTANCE!! Renew your faith with the Reverend Billy-Bob Wander himself!! Hear lurid stories of competition from Charlie Spratt. Touch a million dollars worth of equipment and drool all over it. HEAR FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS DISCUSS SAFETY!! WITHOUT SMILING! Hear soaring pilots discuss safety-that'll make you a safer pilot.

It's time to start planning... First off, check out the convention's website at http://www.ssa99program.org/ That'll give you some idea of what's going to happen!

Second, wouldn't hurt to make a reservation NOW! For convenience and being at the center of things, use the hotels mentioned in either the website or the ads in SOARING. If you're willing to walk or take a trolley or drive and park, there are some cheaper places you might want to consider.

For example, the Days Inn at 1706 Cumberland Ave is on the UT campus, about 7 blocks away from the convention center, and there's a trolley route by there also. Their telephone number is (423) 521-5000, and I got a reservation there for about $53.

Other relatively economical places within a reasonable drive of the center include Merchant's Road has a Red Roof Inn-North 2p/2b: $40-51; Super 8 Motel-North 2p/2b: $44; Econo Lodge-North 2p/2b: $38-55; Quality Inn-North 2p/2b: $40-51. You should be able to access any of these through their 800 numbers in the yellow pages.

If you're a flight instructor, come early for the CFI(G) clinic. Even if you're not due a re-up, you'd be well advised to consider doing this course to get a taste of a REAL soaring CFI clinic! I predict you'll be hooked!

For everyone else, take in the pre-convention Safety Seminar. This is a relatively new feature that focuses on real issues of concern to all of us, and provides real information useful in real situations-
-- Jim Kellett

Over the year that I've been in the club, there have been several discussions of holding ground school for new glider pilots. Unfortunately, largely due to time and geography, these discussions did not result in a course which I could attend. However, as the FAA written was not going to go away on its own, I recently took a course through Aviation Seminars (1-800-257-9444) to prepare for the FAA written.

The study materials were sent well before the class date. They were very thorough and well organized for power folks. They're in a "just the facts ma'am" format. Each chapter included the essentials that you would need for the exam, followed by sample questions taken from the actual FAA question pool (a couple of them I actually saw on the exam). The study materials include a supplement for gliders. You have to let the registration folks know and they'll send this along. The glider review materials are brief but worth looking at-they do not stand alone by any means. The Soaring Handbook would have to be used in conjunction with the supplement to get a good picture of the need to know material.

The seminar is designed to prepare folks for the private pilot power, but others are invited. My class included 6, with 4 power pilot students, a helo pilot and myself. The seminar itself runs 8-6 on a Saturday & Sunday. Most folks take the exam after 6 on Sun. evening. This makes for a very grueling weekend.

The quality of instruction was very high. Our instructor was an CFII and an ATC supervisor. The format was slide-based instruction, review, and Q&A. There was, predictably, a huge pile of material to review. Unfortunately, this resulted in minimal story telling (which is where many of the lessons of flying are learned, I believe). Still, the atmosphere was light and, at times, fun.

As stated, the material was power-aviation specific. For glider folks, the material broke down into several categories, including (1) stuff we need to know, (2) good stuff to know but not on the glider exam, and (3) stuff no one ever needs to know except on the FAA exam.

Overall, the course did what it was advertised to do. The up-side was the quality of the written study materials, the excellent instruction and the focus on getting you past the written. The down side was, predictably, that the intensity of the seminar precluded solid integration of the material. Also, the seminar wasn't focused on glider pilots, so some of the material was not important to our purposes, though it was difficult to see what might be on the glider exam and what would definitely not be. In the end, I'd give the course a solid B+, not, coincidently, about what I got on the FAA written that Sunday night.

Log This...

• Ed Lehr passed his written on December 18th. Congratulations, Ed! Just a reminder that as the season comes to a close, don't forget to look after your batteries.

• Batteries in Handhelds, GPS units, Aircraft, Pacemakers and Vibr[*].. (err maybe not) I mean instruments, etc. all need care and attention.

  1) Nicads do not like to be stored in a discharged state -- they will perish and die. Nicads lose 1% of charge per day, so in January try and discharge and re-charge them fully.

  If a Nicad pack starts to show limited capacity then replace all the cells. (I can usually re-build a set for under $30-its not difficult if you can open the pack).

  2) Sealed Lead Acid (Gel) cells prefer to be stored charged, and will maintain a charge longer than Nicads.

  3) Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) cells offer nearly twice the capacity of Nicads but cannot source the same amount of current and they need a different charger.

  If anyone has a specific question, I'll try and answer it -- but most questions have been answered on the Battery FAQ.

  * Personal Massage Units
  -- Dave Brunner

• Check out the very nice website of Chilhowee Gliderport!

  http://home.att.net/~greeneggsandham/chilhowee/chilblah.htm
  -- Richard Freytag

• A celebrity is amongst us.

  Linn Buell is now an internationally published author!!! Congratulations! The Sept-Oct. issue of Vola a Vela arrived today and they have reprinted her Bungee Cord article on Pavullo-in English. No photos, but a really nice pen & ink drawing of the 1-26 as well as one of Chris Wills' Steinadler.
  -- Raul Blacksten