They say that 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish. I wonder if the other 90% of the fishermen should even bother to bait their hooks, knowing that only 10% of the fish are left for them.

Like many of you, I've been a member of many clubs and organizations over the years. Some are well-organized. Some are fun. Some are financially successful. But there is something special about this Club. There are only 65 of us, so it's not that we have a huge member base from which to draw. Somehow, though, we have managed to create an atmosphere of friendliness, candor, commitment, and overall camaraderie that is quite unique. And it's not coming from just 10% of the members. It's almost is if we have turned the score around and comprised our Club with 90% of those people who would be the 10% who did 90% of the good in a normal club. So, if you follow my math, you should be very proud to be associated with our small band.

Speaking of pride, it's getting to be tough out there on the flight line. One day a fistfight will break out as members jockey to be the first to greet a visitor approaching the ops tent. I think many of you saw John Lewis' compendium of positive feedback from visitors and member prospects. I've also gotten quite a bit of feedback from new members whose main reason for joining was the atmosphere that pervades our Club. Please keep up the good work. Our strong membership growth is a direct result.

I'd like to close with one serious point. The sport that we love is terribly, terribly unforgiving of inattention or poor judgement. Do not let your guard down for a second. Whether you are flying an aircraft, running a wing, driving the tow car, or simply sitting under the tent, you are an active and vital part of our safe operation. If you see an unsafe operation, say so right away and we will stop and assess the situation. Any person-no matter what level of experience-has the authority to stop the operation if they perceive an unsafe event unfolding.

See you at the field.
-- Joe Parrish

Heads up! It's not going to be much of a surprise that fuel prices have gone up in recent years - - and that we haven't adjusted our tow fees in ages! That's coming home to roost, since fuel is a huge part of our operating costs. So, EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2000, the new tow fees will be: Under 1000' (e.g., "rope breaks") - - $10 1500' - - $15.00 2000' - - $20.00 2500' - - $22.50 3000' - - $25.00 (For those members relatively new to the Club, a smidgen of history or policy. The Club's leadership, both founding and current, maintain a general policy of setting fees to cover actual operating costs (including building of maintenance reserves); dues cover fixed and administrative costs; and new member fees go toward capital investments. That policy has served us well, and is, in part, one reason our Club's been as successful as it is. It also provides the Club's managers with "hard data" on which to base fee-setting and growth decisions.)
-- Jim Kellett

I drove out to FRR on Saturday, August 12, arriving at about 9:45 am. I took the road up from 340 and turned right just in front of the black and white "Airplane Rides" sign by the airport. As I was turning, about 75 feet in front of me, a full-grown black bear, about 300 pounds, crossed the road headed toward the airport. Didn't see it on the flight-line however. Flying out of Princeton (N39), I once saw what happens when a Cherokee six runs into a deer on takeoff. The question for us is, what happens if a 2-33 runs into a bear? Does this anger the bear?
-- George Hazelrigg, Jr

Officials at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport in Virginia believe they're sharing space with approximately five deer per square mile and fear the threat to aircraft may be mounting. It's possible that their fears were amplified by a recent Wildlife Society bulletin, which ranked the hazard level of wildlife species to aviation. Deer did appear at the top of that ranking, but therewas also a strong correlation between the size and perhaps mass of the animal ranked and its position within the ranking. Following the deer, and decreasing in level of threat to aircraft, were vultures and geese, with the list tapering down to sparrows and swallows at the bottom of the hazard scale. By some estimates, the deer population in the U.S. has not doubled or tripled in the past 100 years, it's multiplied by a factor of 300. If that's true, then there are approximately 30 million deer grazing, bounding and frolicking through the fields, forests-and airports-of our relatively predator-free land.

Airport managers already dealing with the problem understand that correcting it can be both inconvenient and costly, while not correcting it can (in many cases) lead to considerably more damaging results-especially for the deer. Further complicating matters is the odd fact that both deer and aircraft tend to prefer relatively similar habitats: both enjoy wide-open spaces surrounded by less densely populated areas but still within convenient commuting distance of residential neighborhoods. Unfortunately, one of the most popular methods of dealing with an overpopulation of deer also involves the firing of high-powered weapons. Although hunting or shooting programs are usually quite effective, the proximity of deer to aircraft, combined with firearms, is not often the most eagerly welcomed solution. Still, that method is usually preferred over importing wolves.
-- AVflash

The board met on Sunday Aug. 6, and after careful thought and discussion, decided to pass on making an offer for Jan's plane. There were many factors leading to this decision, most significantly our assessment that the purchase of this particular aircraft could put the club's financial stability at risk, and that it may not meet some important criteria for suitability of a second towplane. These criteria were not fully appreciated until we embarked on this activity-so even though we declined on the purchase, the opportunity itself has been a net positive for the Club.

The most obvious question is where to go from here. All of the factors that led us to consider another towplane (Club growth, need for towpilot training ship, backup to Pawnee, etc.) are still applicable, so we will continue the search for a suitable aircraft. Bill Vickland has done a terrific job on the pre-purchase due diligence for the Scout, and we hope that he will be amenable to continuing to lead our quest for a second towplane. Bill (and others) have made some excellent arguments for other types of aircraft to consider-the most interesting of which are tricycle-gear aircraft that would offer a significantly larger cadre of potential towpilots.

To those of you who have made pledges-and particularly those who have already sent checks-we ask that you please leave your commitments in place so we do not have to go through the fund-raising process all over again when the next opportunity comes up. And for those of you who have not yet pledged, we ask you to reconsider your personal financial situation and the fact that most of your fellow members have made pledges-some large, some smaller-to ensure the continued growth and prosperity of the Club. We will also be communicating this point to new member prospects. We will be establishing an interest-bearing Aircraft Acquisition Fund that is separate from the Club's operating accounts. Of course, we will honor any member's request for a refund of committed funds.

A key issue that really merits discussion by the full membership is the question of what to buy next. When considering the limiting factor on Club operations, the answer changes depending on the day and the situation. Sometimes we really need that second towplane; other times, the lack of another two-place glider is the "tall pole in the tent". The problem is that these "tall poles" are very close to each other in height, so it is not obvious which is the best way to proceed. I can show you several examples in the 200+ e-mail messages I have filed under the topic of "Towplane purchase" (plus countless face-to-face and phone conversations) where reasonable, intelligent cases are made for completely different solutions. And of course we are not addressing the "people" side of the equation; the need for tow pilots and instructors will continue to increase as we expand the size of the Club.

Sometimes the toughest thing for an action-oriented group to do is to do nothing at all. I know I felt the pressure (self-imposed) to "do something" during the Scout purchase decision, but I am convinced that the right decision has been made. The fact is that we are not done with our efforts to expand the Club fleet. We will buy the right plane(s) at the right time(s). That's the bottom line.

I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.

P.S. Pledge level is $45.2K by 39 members. That is substantial.
-- Joe Parrish

Congratulations to Greg Ellis, who's the latest published author, with "Pilot's Choice" in the August SOARING Magazine, page 32. A very well done article that strikes a chord with every soaring pilot who's done a cross country flight!

Our Club members aren't only safe and competent pilots who have a lot of fun, but appear to be rather talented in sharing that with the rest of the world! Greg joins a growing list of members who are "published"! Other Club members who've published in SOARING Magazine in recent years include:

Dave Brunner, "Transition to Glass", January, 2000 page 28

Jim Kellett, "Cirrus, A Classic Case", March, 1999 page 34

Judah Milgram, "Flight Testing at the 1998 Idafleig Meet", April 1999 , page 34

Joe Parrish, "Rope Breaks: Lessons Learned from the Space Shuttle", April 1998 page 22

Jim Kellett, "Let's Take it Nice and Easy", August, 1997, page 30

David Brunner",Patience Pays Off" Soaring-August 1999 :-)

That's in addition to various notices, letters, etc. that members have published in SOARING!

Two of the more heartwarming articles about a Skyliner was "A Mother's View", by Linda Hiller in the June, 1999 issue about her son's achievements with a Gogos Scholarship and "A Gogos Scholar at Minden", by Walter Brink in the January, 2000 issue. (Skyliner Bela Gogos' privately funded scholarship fund has helped dozens of young people advance their soaring skills.)

Keep it up, guys and gals!
-- Jim Kellett

I wasn't really planning on relating this tale but its Thursday night and I'm all caught up on my to do list at home. With all the talk about x-c experience I thought I might relate the story of my adventures on Saturday August 5th as well as those of my intrepid ground crew.

I planned to fly the LS-4 last Saturday regardless of Wx and Joe Parrish, my faithful partner, volunteered to crew for me if required. While assembling the ship, it was obvious that the day was cooking already and Joe suggested that I "go for it" because it would be an adventure for my son, a crewmember in-training. With Joe's help, I got off around 1230 and punched off at 2,000' AGL in a decent thermal over toward the near ridge. Cloud base was a little low but after climbing to 4,200' MSL I made a run for my start point at Signal Knob. I had declared Signal Knob, Buena Visa and return, a 300 km round trip.

Immediately after departing Signal Knob I struggled for awhile until gaining back the altitude I had lost. I really didn't make the decision to leave the local area until I climbed back up after my initial altitude loss at Signal Knob. With 4,300' in hand I headed down the Massanutten. Inter-thermal speeds were around 80 kts and I hardly had to circle. This is going to be a piece of cake, I say to myself. I hadn't been x-c in awhile, so I was flying pretty conservatively. I flew form one airport to another down the ridge. My first stepping stone was Luray. I hardly gave it glance. Then, on to ski area at the end of the ridge. Over the peak at the end of the Massanutten ridge, I climbed to 5,300' while filling my first piddle pack and flying left handed. A skill often neglected by the novice country crosser. After departing the ridge, I gazed out over the vast blue abyss of the Shenandoah Valley. Not many clouds out there, I say to myself and the GPS says that Shenandoah Valley Airport is beyond glide distance. Oh well, I point the glider toward the airport and check for potential off-field landing sites. The air is pretty smooth down the Valley but I caught a little thermal about half way there which takes me within gliding distance of the airport. As I monitor the Unicom frequency and size up the airport for a potential landing (These 5,000' runways do require some planning), I here an America West regional flight call final for 05. I slowly drift down toward pattern altitude and watch the airliner touch down just past the numbers for 05. Then I finally encounter a blue thermal just west of the airport. Its weak at first but eventually takes me to 5,000' again, just about over the airport. Next stop, Eagles Nest. Also out of gliding range. I work some lift along the way and line up the GPS track indicator because I still can't visually acquire the airport. As I approach Eagles Nest I remember that they have a glider operation there and start to think that would a nice easy place to retrieve from because I admit to myself that my speed is slow. Probably too slow to make it back. However, I find an excellent thermal just north of Eagles Nest and I take a little time out to view the glider operation at the airport below. Then, the words of Joe Parrish ring in my ears, "Go for it, this will be an adventure for Heath". I bid farewell to Eagles Nest and think, "I'm within striking distance of the turn point at Buena Vista". The airport situation is a little sparse south of Eagles Nest so I decide to work directly toward the grass strip at Brook Hill Farms, somewhat northeast of Buena Vista. I sink lower, en route, and decide to deviate over the high ground to the east in search of lift. Not much lift here either. I stay over the high ground (3,000' peaks) as long as I can but have to abandon this route due to altitude. Now the mountains lie between me and the next airport at Brook Hill Farms.

I find a little lift and cruise around the end of the ridge, noting that the SNAV's glide slope indicator says I can make Brook Hill Farms. I fly over Brook Hill to make sure that I can identify the grass airport and look longingly at the manicured strip with a plane parked at one end. There is also a path leading to a nice house with a pool. However, I'm abruptly snapped out of my day dream. I hear Joe saying, "Go for it, it will be an adventure for Heath. I once again turn southward toward the turn point. My next stepping stone airport is actually located beyond the turn point at Balcony Downs. I got pretty low northwest of Buena Visa and had several fields picked out. I particularly liked the one with the house on a circular drive and a pool in the backyard. As luck would have it I found some decent lift and climbed back to 5,000 and made it to Balcony Downs. However, I had a hard time picking it out of the surrounding terrain and didn't see anywhere around it that I wanted to land on anyway. I still had plenty of altitude so I headed back north toward an uncharted grass strip about 2 miles to the north. This strip looked pretty good. At least 2,000' long, two hangars and two wind socks. What more could you ask for? I entered a search pattern for some more lift but there was none to be had. Field elevation was estimated to be 800'. Passing 1,900' on the altimeter I ran the landing check and dropped the gear. I gave the field a final look and decided the light wind favored a south landing and a right hand pattern due to the high ridge to the east. I flew an uneventful pattern but on short final I noted that the runway could probably use mowing. I planned the roll out to end up next to the pave area by the hangar. Due to the grass height, landing roll was very short. The attachment is the topo chart of the local area.

After landing, I sat in the glider for a couple of minutes to soak up the glow of the day. I knew that at any second a crowd of well wishers would be storming the plane, not unlike Lindbergh in Paris. Much to my dismay, the crowd never appeared. I secured the ship and pulled out my cell phone to call my crew. I passed the GPS coordinates to Joe but had not encountered the indigenous population as yet and could not provide detailed road instructions. I hiked around for a half mile radius but couldn't find anyone so I sat down on a stone wall to await the crew. After an hour or so a local came by and invited me up to his cabin to use the phone and meet the wife and dog. I heard the faint strains of a banjo strumming out Deliverance as we approached the ford in the river. Just Kidding. These people are transplanted city folk and knew all about gliders. The wife offered me a glass of Virginia Riesling while I called home. After a short period of socializing, I told them that I needed to get back to the glider in case my crew was there. Not to worry. They were still cruising down the highway with my son receiving dual instruction from Joe, a qualified trailer instructor. Although, I never reestablished contact with the crew prior to their arrival, I am still amazed that they found the place with just the Coordinates and Joe's hand held GPS. We got back to FRR around 2115. We were all very tired. I got to log about 5 hrs flying time and a lot of useful experience.

You haven't lived until you glide outside the ring of no return and experienced that knot in your stomach when you really need that next thermal. Get certified and schedule some x-c prep time with your favorite CFIG. This is what's its all about and our club provides you with an excellent opportunity that very few commercial operations even offer. Get checked out and go cross country.
-- Dave Weaver

I spoke with Bob Michael recently. According to Bob, the Chicago Glider Club folks have 2 tow planes, just bought a new Duo Discus fully equipped with dual GPS nav gear, etc, and has its own strip-five members bought homes on the same land and dedicated a large section to a glider strip. They regularly fly cross country in more consistent thermals than we have. Bob is now flying the K's sister... N342KS-next in sequence serial number.

Sounds great right? Well listen to the next part:

He misses the camaraderie we have, misses the evening get together at The Mill (or some equivalent), and misses the cooperative spirit of our club. CGC has no DO, the tow pilot just records his launches. They provide no training-only rated soaring pilots may be accepted. They fly individually, and are more competitive. Thermals are not generally shared. They don't help each other out to locate lift. Each person comes to fly, flies, then leaves. No group activity. A couple of folks maintain the tow planes.

In view of the subject of some of the recent email, the above seemed relevant. I like what we got, but: are there 5 or more of us interested, buying a piece of land, subdividing for homes, moving to it, and setting up a strip and a hangar just like the CGC did?
-- Greg Ellis

On Saturday, August 19, I attempted my second crosscounry flight of the year with similar results. It was a fun flight however, and served to get me inspired to go for it more often. My goal was Newcastle and the Boomerang Trophy. Kolie's Friday evening weather report indicated great local conditions, but questionable support for the New Castle area, although I don't remember why it was questionable.

In any case, flight service reports and the Weather Channel both indicated that the flight was doable So I scratched my plans to work with John on the Citabria and prepared for the flight. My son, Eric would crew.

My first surprise was that it was 141 miles and not 123 I had used my GPS to determine the distance but forgot that it was set to record nautical miles. Having adjusted to the greater distance, I figured that I could do the task at about 35 mph, or in about 4 hours. I decided to launch at about 1:00 to be sure that we had good thermals. That would mean flying until about 5:00 which should not be a problem.

Amazingly, we arrived at FRR without forgetting any essential items like radio, GPS, water etc. Eric drove the van while I programmed the GPS to locate Newcastle as well as airports at Barrows, Fincastle and Springwood Gliderport. I wanted these identified on my GPS because I have never flown into Newcastle and wanted alternative landing spots in case I could not make it from the farming lands along I-81 some 20 miles west to Newcastle. I had been warned that landing spots may be limited in this area.

We were ready to go by 12:30 and I prepared to launch at 1:00 as I had planned. I had some concerns about getting ahead of Eric or not making contact with him, so we planned that if he did not hear from me by the time he arrived at Strasburg, he should turn around and come back. This concern stemmed from experience crewing with Collier where we were unable to make contact and I was undecided as to drive on toward Newcastle or turn back. I decided on the latter, but decided that that first contact should be established before proceeding on course. We made contact easily and Eric was entering Strasburg by the time I topped out at 5000 feet in my first thermal directly over Signal Knob. Instead of following via I-81 I decided to have him track me while following route 11. As long as I had some altitude, I had him move ahead of me progressively to Toms Brook, Woodstock and New Market. This ensures that I will not out distance him if I begin to develop some speed.

There was no indication of cloud formation associated with the ridge, so I was reluctant to attempt to use it. Instead I decided to move out into the valley. The thermals we not solid and a big Q did not necessarily produce a thermal. I flew to Woodstock and down to 2500 MSL before picking up my second thermal. It carried me back to the ridge top at a measly 150 fpm until we reached the ridge top and then took me to 5000 ft again. These flaky thermals by now had deflated my confidence that this would be a piece of cake.

A radio message from AE at Waynesboro suggested that I move to the western side of the valley. They were not having good success over the Blue Ridge. So at Mt Jackson, I crossed I 81 and was immediately rewarded with 600 fpm to 6000 ft. Two more of these brought be to New Market Airport where, in my last great climb, I viewed a big (20 mile) blue hole over most of my southern route. However, a cloud street to the west would take me to more clouds at the edge of the valley which I thought would allow me to skirt around the blue hole. From 6000 feet near Bridgewater Airport I began a westward track which would yield an occasional thermal, but each was weaker and topped out at an ever reducing altitude. Soon, in order to get under the best looking clouds, I moved ever closer to the hills to the west, and as I did, I sensed that I was in a lea downwash. Now at 2500 MSL, I made a hasty retreat to the Southeast where only a few ragged clouds were visible, and beyond them was the same big blue hole.

I decided that I would fly from one plowed field to the next to see if any would provide even a modest 150 fpm, and one or two did. However they were hard to stay centered and as I lost each one, I moved to the next. Finally, my track decisions were made on the basis of available landing spots rather than potential thermals. As I circled to prepare to land in my first choice, I caught a small bubble of a thermal that provided zero to 50 fpm. Having drifted with the wind, I now selected two more likely places to land, one up hill and downwind, and the other 1/4 mile further which was up wind and on a flat freshly cut hay field. The choices were actually opposite ends of the same field with a large treed area cutting off my visible connection of the two. I would land near Churchville which is due west of Staunton. It was 70 miles from New Castle and about 71 from FRR. My flying time was one hour and forty-five minutes for an average speed of about 40 MPH. Had the thermals been consistent, I would have made New Castle in 3.5 hours? The landing was uneventful. I had to walk about 1/4 mile to the farm house where the son of the owner met me. He and his grandmother drove me back up to the glider where I explained all of the instruments.

At this point I contacted my crew by cell phone and walked out to the highway to wait for him. While waiting I wondered where I had left my cap. The sun was hot and there was no shade. Eric arrived in 45 minutes and we proceeded to de-rig, and with a good-bye to the grandmother, we were on our way home at 4:00. Only when I go home did I realize that I had left my cap in the farmers car. On Monday, Joan and I drove back down to the farm to retrieve it. The grandmother had the cap and knew I would be back to retrieve it because of the 1-26 triple diamond pin attached to it. It was a fun flight because it reminded me of many other flights that Collier, Dudley Mattson and I made with far greater frequency in the two decades prior to this one. As a result, I have resolved to make cross country flying my first priority for the coming year.

For those 1-26 pilots who want to get into cross country flying, the Shenandoah Valley provides as safe an environment for off field landings as anywhere I have flown. Get yourself a cross country partner and take turns going out to a probably out landing. You will develop your thermaling skills much faster because it becomes more important, and you will learn more about flying fast because every cross country flight is a speed task, if you want to achieve your goal. Try it you'll like it.
-- Bill Vickland

Good Vibrations-A human-factors study from Ohio State University has found that pilots seemed to prefer being vibrated to having blinking or buzzing gadgets go off in their face. Surprise, surprise. The study found that not only are pilots more likely to notice alerts through vibration, but they're also more likely to react faster-occasionally, more than twice as fast. The research contends that tactile cues could be used to expand the number of sensory channels through which information arrives to the pilot. While there are some limiting factors, ultimately the team hopes to devising methods of distributing information more evenly across the available senses, many of which may currently be underutilized.

-- AvFlash

• "I'm satisfied we accomplished something. Particularly when I get letters and comments from people who thank me for saving their lives. I'm happy I designed crash-resistant structures."

  Ernest Schweizer commenting on his life's work. The designer of the 1-26 (and a lot of other flying objects) died June 11 at age 88.

• After more than a year of yeoman duty, Gary Shepherd has asked to step aside from his Treasurer role in order to concentrate on his business in Richmond, as well as continuing toward his PP-G certificate. I think that the Treasurer position is much like childbirth, in that you must actually experience it to fully appreciate how much effort is involved. Our sincere thanks and gratitude go out to Gary for the excellent job done during his tenure.

  Upon notification by Gary, the Board embarked on a search to fill the Treasurer position. We were unanimous in our support for Bob Collier to take on this new role, and Bob was graciously agreed to serve. He and Gary will be working together in the next several weeks to make the transition as smooth as possible.

  Once again, thanks to Gary for his service and to Bob for taking on this important role.
  -- Joe Parrish

• Drum roll, please Fred Mueller has volunteered to become the new Rostermeister everyone else in the club breathes a large sign of relief when we realize the job is already taken!

• Shane Neitzey's alternate e-mail address: shanessigns@mindspring.com

• Mike Cordova is going inactive and has resigned from the Board in order to spent more quality time with his family. We'll miss Mike, but know he'll be back -- it's in his blood -- that is he has the same defective gene we all have!

• And for Mike and Bob, the following item: Super sailplane indevelopment by German group- The Germans have long been known for their pioneering work in the design and manufacture of high-performance sailplanes, but their latest design takes soaring flight to a whole new level. A German group called ETA Aircraft has designed and built the world's largest sailplane. The two-seater has an impressive 101-foot wingspan-wider than most 737s.

• Jim Garrison sent me the following URL (http://www.wingsandwheels.com/images/1-23H15.jpg) that shows "our" (Jim's and mine) old love-a SGS 1-23H, N10388-that we both flew. The picture is from this year's IVSM, and shows current owners Peter McLean (an artist) and Seth Coulter from the Mohawk Soaring Club in North Adams, MA. The paint job is an original, designed by Scott Callander (a forensic artist with the Secret Service!).

  Jim and I both earned several badges in this bird. BTW, there's a 1-23H-15 for sale at Mohawk-with (get this) less than 210 hours total flight time!! If you're interested, let me know and I"ll put you in touch with someone at the Club.
  -- Jim Kellett

• The Richard duPont Regatta will be held at Eagle's Nest Airport in Waynesboro, VA., on September 22-24.Carl Striedieck will be the featured speaker at the Saturday evening banquet at the Holiday Inn at Staunton. For all the details see the SVS website (www.svsoar.org).

• Best News of the Summer-The Board has accepted Judah Milgram's generous offer of a towcar with an automatic transmission! If you move quick, you may be able to buy "The Thing" from Kellett.

• Those of you who believe our club is big enough now and shouldn't continue growing at the pace it has, please read this. I keep getting feedback comments, (see below) from folks who've come out for temp memberships. Our membership levels are never going to stagnate if you all keep being so hospitable!

  "... I know from my observations that the club works hard to help its own, and there is a good team comaraderie."

  "... I had a great first lesson yesterday. Everything was very well coordinated and it was more fun than I had expected."

  "I had my first flight at FRR on Sunday and I had a great time. How soon can I schedule another?"

  "... I came home to realize later that I got sunburned. No wonder all you soaring guys wear those funny hats!"

  Sum is, people join soaring clubs for the flying and something more. We keep this up, and we'll continue to grow. If you don't like that, then quit being so damn friendly
  -- John Lewis