Skyline Soaring is Growing
The Club is growing, not only in new members, but with new ships in the fleet!!

As most of you know, Ed Lehr and Malcolm Gardner are waiting (still!) on the delivery of their new Russia AC-4 (See <http://www.mcn.net/~soarmontana/russia.html >)-and in the meantime, Serge Kohudic acquired a one-of-a-kind two place ship, a Schreder RHJ-7 which is nearly ready to fly.

Most recently, towpilot/instructor Bill Bentley has purchased a 1-26 (the FOURTH in the Club fleet! (See <http://www.serve.com/126ASSN/> ... we can have our own 1-26 contest!!) and Steve Rouse has purchased an HP-18 (which we can see as soon as he figures out how to get it here from California!) BTW, that makes three of Dick Schreder's ships-Jim McCulley's RS-15, Serge's RHJ-7 and now Steve's HP-18. (For more about Schreder's really neat gliders, check out < http://stimpy.acofi.edu/~wpaul>.)

When all these are actually delivered, Club members will own and fly a total of FIFTEEN different gliders!

Check out the Club's member list on the website ( <http://www.ssl.umd.edu/skyline/MEMBERSHIP/ >) for a list of the members and who-owns-what.
-Jim Kellett

Expletive deleted
Just a few friendly reminders from your frustrated treasurer. Insert please and thank you before and after the following.

1. Remember that even though you guys (and my wife) think I'm a mind reader I'm not. If you are helping the DO with the log make sure that everything is explained in grade level language on the sheet. If you don't know where money came from or who didn't pay and you were there. enuff said.
2. Please make sure checks are signed they aren't much good without it.
3. Double check the D/O's calculation. You fill out your log books, you know the per minute rate for the gliders, do the math! I'm getting a lot of small amounts due on invoices because of math errors. Remember the DOs have a ton of stuff to do and supervise at the end of the day. Try to help them out a little.
4. Don't come out and fly if you haven't got any money. We aren't a bank! When you don't pay I have to print an invoice a statement and hassle you for the money and I really don't have the time.
5. Temp members must pay and fill out the form.
6. I am sending out statements to everyone who owes money. Please mail me a check for the balance or let me know if there is a problem. If the amount is small and you aren't certain whether you owe us or not, the benefit of the doubt would be much appreciated. It's for a good cause.

It takes twice as long to process a log sheet with errors than one correctly completed again enuff said.

Thanks for your co-operation
-Gary Shepherd

Also note: As a point of clarification it was determined at the last board meeting that temporary membership fees are per person and not per family group.

Therefore if a husband and wife turn up to fly, they are both to be charged $20 temp member fee.

This temporary membership is the only means to have them covered by our insurance, so it is vital that the forms are filled out and money collected before the flight takes place.

This doesn't apply to the friend or relative you take up as a passenger.

Meet the Member-Sergius Kohudic
Born: FDR was President, King George VI was monarch of England and Hitler was poised on the Lithuanian border for imminent invasion. The place was Frackville, a coal mining town in Pennsylvania. My father was a coal miner of modest means and education; my mother was an immigrant farmer's daughter.

The Early Years: Balsa and glue, model after model, several uncles serving with the Army Air Corps in Europe and the Pacific. All precursors of the life I was destined to lead. At one point, I contemplated jumping off the shed roof with balsa/cardboard wings, but my conservative nature (or was it just fear?) overcame the temptation. On to High School, working at a Carvel Store seven evenings a week, hoping to save enough to attend the Penn State University. Very slow accumulation at .35 per hour. Enrolled at Penn State for the fall semester of 1957, but ran out of money after the first year. So much for an Engineering career.

The Later Years: Entered the early computer field by working for the Penn. Turnpike Commission in the data processing field. Continuing engineering and math studies at Penn State Evening Extension in Harrisburg, Pa. Caught the flying bug on Thanksgiving Day, 1957 and couldn't shake the disease. First flight in a Cessna 140 with a former Army Air Corps civilian contract instructor. Soloed on 15 April, 1958 at Gordon, Pennsylvania. Began working for Gannett, Fleming, Corddry and Carpenter, a Harrisburg engineering firm, as a computer programmer trainee. First computer was an IBM 604, followed by a rotating drum IBM 650, then the solid state IBM 1620 and 1401 series.

The Military Years: Enlisted in the USAF during December 1961. Took the dreaded AFOQT and was sent to Electronics School for a year while waiting for a flight training slot. The Korean conflict was settling down and the need for flight crews was diminishing. However, a Pentagon General Officer recognized the need for an Aero Club Flight Instructor, so guess who volunteered. A lot of T-34 instructing, multi-engine land, single-engine sea, instrument ratings, followed by separation from the Air Force.

The Airline Years: Pennsylvania Commuter Airlines was the first stop. Twin Beechcraft D-18 and Cessna 310 (tag-along baggage support) for several months until a telegram from Mohawk Airlines arrived. Began ground school at Utica, New York on 14 March 1966. Training was for the Convair 240/440. Became a First Officer based in New York, flying out of the LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports. Met and married my wife, Kit (former Flight Attendant for Mohawk) in 1969. Upgraded to the Fairchild FH-227 aircraft and received my ATP and FH-227 Type Rating on 24 Jan 1972. April 1972 brought the merger with Allegheny Airlines and I moved into the BAC-111 turbojet and to the Washington area. Goodbye propellers and Buffalo, New York. Upgraded to BAC-111 Captain during June 1980. Transitioned to the DC-9 in 1984, and the MD-80 in 1989. Allegheny Airlines became USAir and acquired PSA and Piedmont Airlines by merger/acquisition and we inherited the Boeing 767's. In 1993, I transitioned to the Boeing 757/767 and retired in 1994 after 28+ years of service. Goodbye airlines, hello Skyline Soaring Club.

The Soaring years: First glider flight was at the Warrenton Soaring Center on 4 August 1979. H.E. Otten was the instructor in the SGS 2-33, which was none other than "Miss Daisy". Soloed Miss Daisy on 8 August 1979 and began work-in-progress toward the glider rating, but was interrupted by the Captain upgrade training during 1980. Goodbye gliders. After Airline retirement, still suffering from the disease, wandered over to New Market on 12 September 1998 and reintroduced myself to Miss Daisy and the rest is history. Acquired an RHJ-7 glider (actually a Richard Schreder HP-14 modified for two-place side-by-side seating) during August 1999, but yet to be flown due to lack of hangar space at FRR. Hoping for relief from this dilemma, I remain.
-Serge Kohudic

East is East, and so is West-De-Gaussing 081
When I first sent this in Phil thought I meant De-Gassing the 081 and wondered what flatulence had to do with flying a glider, well judging from some of the hot air at the Mill some evenings, maybe he is right to wonder!

Oh, and let me begin by saying that just because I have flown in Jim's Cirrus, I have not been taken over to the dark side by the glass ship flyers, and NO my share in 081 is not up for grabs-it was still pretty cool though.

Anyway, I digress, now as you may know the soaring 081 team have been sorely afflicted by an inability to fly in any other direction other than East since we purchased the ship at the start of the year. We have had all sorts of helpful suggestions like "Keep the compass-change the ship" and "Point it North and hit frame with a big hammer". None of these suggestions were deemed worthy of trial (other than of my patience!) so we lived with it.

Now, one day over a beer I mention this to Glenn B.-yes the same Glenn that was part of the Three Stooges team (myself included) that went to retrieve Serge "gone to the cows" Kohudic. He said that we needed to 'De-Gauss' the air frame, and that all we needed was a big enough alternating magnetic field and that would do the job... yeah right Glenn, where are we going to get such a huge electromagnet? No problem, comes the reply, I'll make one. Well, this is the same guy that intends to make the first homebuilt U2 replica, fly's a Pitts Special (is that really flying?) and also has a Thorpe with ridiculously small wingsbut, he seems to know what he's about, so I say OK Glenn, and think no more of it.

A couple of weekends later Glenn appears with a coil of wire with 3 or 4 iron bars in the middle, an extension cord and a big smile here we are Dave, this is all you need. Right Glenn, I ain't going anywhere near that thing-it looks like something Boris Karloff would have created to jolt life into Frankenstein's monster. However, things take a turn for the worse, Glenn says that the 110volt supply isn't sufficient, so he'll add a step up transformer to make it 220volts and multiply the power by 4. So, the next day we have a vintage WW2 oil-filled transformer, connected to a BIG reel of what looks like bell wire, 2000' of the stuff and the said rods taped together-ready?

Well, we pull up 081 to the FBO and I remove the panel (I didn't want the instruments fried by this contraption), install the compass and we prove to everyone's satisfaction that when the compass is in the panel and away from the aircraft, it works just fine. Time to plug in the coil, I take a few steps back expecting to see Glenn light up like a Christmas Tree...but no, nothing, no visible sign of anything, bit disappointing really. However, as Glenn moves the iron rods near the airframe you can hear a 60 Hertz hum, hey must be doing something! Glenn waves the contraption about like a magician with a wand, I almost thought I heard some sort of incantation, but no, I must be hearing things. Well, after a couple of minutes of this and like some sort of medicine man laying on hands the deed was done, "OK Dave, let's see if that did the job". I put the panel back, and I'm not that surprised to see the compass pointed EAST, oh no, not again. However, this was hardly surprising since 081 was really pointing East!

Moment of truth, we rotate 081 to the North and the compass swings North, same story to the West and the South! OMG! It really worked. The airframe was no longer magnetized, we would now know where we were going! Glenn returns to find 081 back together, checks the compass and is pleased..."See I told you it would work".

Many thanks to Glenn for his ingenuity in the face of Doubting Thomas's, his Rube Goldberg creation worked just as specified, and I look forward to seeing the first homebuilt U2. Thank-you Glenn.

I am a little concerned about his parachute design though (see above) Rube Goldberg Glenn's idea for a simple parachute. As aviator jumps from plane, force of wind opens umbrella (A) which pulls cord (B) and closes shears (C), cutting off corner of feather pillow (D). As white feathers (E) fly from pillow, penguin (F) mistakes them for snow flakes and flaps his wings for joy which draws buck-saw (G) back and forth cutting log of wood (H). As piece of wood falls into basket (I), its weight causes rope (J) to pull trigger of gun (K) which explodes and shoots lock from cage (L), realizing giant Umpha Bird (M) which flies and keeps aviator afloat with rope (N). Aviator breaks paper bag of corn (O), causing corn to fall to ground when bird swoops down to eat corn. Flier unhooks apparatus and walks home. The biggest problem is where to get the Umpha Bird. Write your Congressman.
-David Brunner

Edited excerpts from the minutes:
Treasurer Gary Shepherd distributed copies of the Treasurer's Report highlighting that an unprecedented current account balance (high) could be projected by year end. The Board took the the Treasurer's suggestion that it should be analyzing now how to thoughtfully apply those funds toward the Club's highest priorities. The Treasurer expressed the need for Board-approved priorities for the development of next year's budget. Joe Parrish, Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee emphasized that the Committee also needed carefully considered priorities for the use of such resources as an aid to their deliberations.

Jim Kellett reported on the favorable response given by the Front Royal Airport Commission to the Club's briefing on its hangar needs. The Commission assured the Club that they agreed with the Club's assessment of hangar needs, and offered to work with us to provide additional glider hangars (probably by their constructing a building to our specifications and then renting to us), hopefully by the end of the 2000 soaring season. They also asked the Club to develop more detailed building specifications so that a better estimate of final costs could be used in planning. The Board noted that the member owned fleet was RAPIDLY expanding and that hangarage was going to increase in importance. After discussion, it was the consensus of the Board that:

1. The Club strongly prefers that the Airport build a hangar which we rent (as opposed to our building a hangar on land they lease to us), and that the Commission should be so advised.
2. An ad hoc committee (Kellett, Fleet, and Shepherd) shall develop a set of specifications for several alternative structures and obtain construction bids. In addition, the Board desires that these actions be concluded by the end of the calendar year 1999.

President Joe Rees agreed to review with the FRR management a rental rate for currently occupied hangars (including those used by the Club's current private owners) for the year 2000 and outlying years. The Board approved a proposal to turn over the routine maintenance of the Club's towplane to Muia Aviation, the aircraft maintenance shop that resides at FRR. Joe Parrish will be working with Acting Maintenance Officer Jim McCulley to coordinate this change, which should sharply reduce the "emergency down time" we've experienced with the Pawnee this year AND reduce the heavy workload on the Club's overextended volunteer maintenance officers.

The Board accepted and approved the report of the ad hoc Safety Committee, chaired by Operations Chief Bob Michael, on the towplane incident of July 17, 1999. The Board also expressed its gratitude to the Committee (Bob Michael, Ralph Vawter, Serge Kohudic, and Jim Kellett) for its thorough, thoughtful, and timely report.

Operations Chief Bob Michael also submitted several recommendations to the Board as a result of it's activities in the July 17 event, all of which were approved by the Board. Those recommendations were (briefly):

1. Tow Pilot qualifications
   The Board directed that the Club's Aero Tow Manual be revised to eliminate the requirement for Commercial Pilot certification for towpilots.
2. Tow Pilot Evaluation The Board endorsed the Chief Towpilot's need for an appropriate two place towplane in which to train towpilots and to evaluate towpilot skills.
3. Towpilot Currency The Board concurred with several specific currency requirements for Club towpilots
4. The Board agreed on the need for occasional "Safety Alert Bulletins", generated by the cognizant "Chief Weenie" (depending on topic) for quick dissemination to the membership when the need is recognized.
   -Jim Kellett, Secretary

The Rostermeister Speaks:
Please note the following:

1. If you are new to the club, haven't stood any duty this year (and are eligible), or have only stood duty a few times, please search the schedule carefully to ensure you identify days that you are scheduled to serve. There are several new members, so DOs should contact their ADOs at least 24 hours in advance to ensure that they are aware they have duty and should show up to the field by 9 am. I have scheduled new family members together (ex. Smiths) by adding an "s" to the last name to indicate this. Next year we may schedule individual family members separately to maximize resources.
2. We have no tow pilots for Saturday 2 October and Thursday 7 Oct. We need volunteers ASAP for these days. There are 5 total empty slots that need filling.
3. We have no instructors for 3 days. These need filling as well.
4. I have tried to balance the number of duties as much as possible. Things came out fairly equitably for the DOs and ADOs, but the instructors and tow pilots are another story.

If you have any conflicts, contact someone to trade as soon as possible.
-Tony Bigbee 703-925-0866

Log This...

• Reminder:
  Effective October 1, Bela Gogos will have a new email address: bgogos@erols.com
• JMU has moved Dave to the Penthouse (or was that doghouse?) suite...

  Dave Brunner
  61 Court Square Apt 401
  Harrisonburg
  VA 22801
  (540) 547 1885

• The club has two new members, signed on in the last couple of weeks. These include:
  • Tim Lewis
    btlewis@erols.com Tim comes to the club with no appreciable previous flight experience.
  • Scott Stevens
    freeheel@erols.com

    Scott is a transient member and has 11 student hours in power and 4 student hours in gliders from Warrenton Soaring Center.

  • David Dawood, a new Skyline member and a CFI (power) who gives flight instruction for Reggie at FRR, soloed a glider (Miss Daisy) on September 24, earning his "A" badge. Congratulations, Dave!!
    ddawood@visuallink.com
• Congratulations to George Hazelrigg-first solo, Glider (Transition, Commercial Pilot) and
• Geoff Hazelrigg-first solo, Glider (no previous flying experience).
• There will be a neat lecture at the National Air & Space Museum on Thursday, October 14 7:30pm Langley Theatre General Electric Aviation Lecture Brig. Gen. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager Tickets may be obtained directly at the NASM, or from ProTix (800) 529-2440 <http://www.protix.com>. The tickets are free, but if you use ProTix, they will hit you for $1.75 per ticket handling fee. I know that the Yeager lecture is particularly popular, so get your tickets ASAP. See you there.
  -Joe Parrish
• Above and Beyond
  Everyone in the Club, and all of us 081 owners, owe Jim Kellett and Kevin Fleet one hell of a big "Thank You". In the face of Floyd and in the driving rain, they battened down all the Club's hatches and rolled 081 into the hangar ASSEMBLED!

  In Jim's words-"Fortunately, Kevin took off from work early and showed up, too, giving us more options. To make a long (but not too interesting) story short, Kevin convinced me that we could get 081 in the hangar assembled. I knew we could not. However, we did it. I'm not sure how. I'm not even convinced we did it. But it's in. And with centimeters (NOT inches!) to spare. Lemme tell you, there should be a sign up saying "Accomplished by Professionals-Do Not Attempt This at Home!" ...David Brunner wrote (perhaps foolishly!):

  > Beer and wine for an evening if you can get it put away for us. 
  >OK, Dave-you're in the barrel for THIS one!"
  

  Jim and Kevin-we're ALL in the barrel-Thanks!

• It's still safe to fly: Don't we all just love to tell nonpilot friends that other forms of transportation are more dangerous than airplanes? Here are the latest numbers, straight from the NTSB, to back you up. In 1998 in the United States and its territories, 43,920 people died in transportation-related accidents. Aviation accounted for 683 deaths, with 621 of them in GA. Bicyclists, recreational boaters, and people walking in front of trains notched 794, 808, and 831 fatalities, respectively.
• Tina Turner, Aviation Heroine: Remember a few years ago when some guy claimed Entertainment Tonight host Mary Hart's voice caused him to go into an epileptic seizure? This story is almost as strange. Officials at the Gloucestershire, England, airport report that Tina Turner's singing was more effective than a tape of bird distress calls at scaring off birds.-AVweb
• For those members that actually read Skylines (yes, Gary, there are such unfortunates!) We have established an Editorial Review Group to help Skylines provide a more consistent quality of information in three areas: Safety, Instruction and Membership.

  Out of necessity and oftentimes desperation, information is glummed out of email that sometimes is less than clear, in retrospect.

  In the future, Dave Brunner will edit Safety messages, Jim Kellett will do the same with matters relating to Instruction while John Lewis will review all articles dealing with Membership. Movement is also afoot to have qualified members compile a series of articles written specifically for the newsletter on various subjects.

  Needless to say your editor will deliriously grateful to not have to read all that email so thoroughly. My tri-focals thank you. Author unknown. Printed in the VMFA-323 Change of Command program some years ago.

  Because I Fly

  Because I fly I laugh more than other men I look up and see more than they. I know how the clouds feel What it's like to have the blue in my lap. I look down on birds. To feel freedom in a thing called the stick. Who but I can slice between God's billow legs and feel them laugh and crash with His step? Who else has seen the unclimbed peaks? The rainbow's secret? The real reason birds sing? Because I fly I envy no man on earth.

  That is my two cents worth for the week.
  -Glenn Baumgartner.