It is with a heavy heart that I make my last submission to The President's Prerogative. Although I've known for some time that I would not be running for President in 2002, Steph's and my recent decision to move to Boston has given the transition to a new President a certain sense of urgency. Fortunately, a search committee has already identified several excellent candidates, and I'm sure that we will be in good hands in 2002 and beyond.

It's been very rewarding to serve in this role for the past two years. I've certainly learned a lot. I began to put down a few acknowledgments to those who have contributed to my tenure as President, but the list got so long that Phil would have rejected this article for length. Instead, I'll plan to say a few words of appreciation at our annual meeting. The Year in Review It's been another excellent year for our club. Although our endeavors have been somewhat overshadowed by the very significant challenges facing our country, our sport offers us a welcome diversion from these weighty matters.

Our membership statistics are not yet finalized, but it appears that our membership level has been fairly stable over the past year. I don't know if this represents a shift from our typical 10-15% annual growth rate or if it is just a statistical aberration. It appears that our instructional flights are slightly down from last year. I think that this is due to not having enough instructors. Typically, we offered instruction on only two of our three operational days in a week. Our statistics on privately-owned flights are not as precisely kept, but it seems that we are continuing the trend over the past few years of increased private ownership, and certainly we are seeing more private ships on the flight line on any good soaring day.

A few members and events are particularly memorable. I think in particular of the Hazelriggs and their constant presence and service to the club. It's heartening to see them sharing their "new" LS-1-I know that Gerhard must be gratified to see his ship being used to the fullest. Other notables include John Lewis' aerial tour of Shenandoah Valley vineyards. I know that balloonists have a long tradition involving champagne, but perhaps John is on the way to establishing a new tradition for glider pilots. It's also a thrill to see some of our members participating in area soaring competitions. Of course Bill Vickland has been active in the 1-26 contest ranks for many years, but it appears that we now have a new crop of competitors. Go Team Skyline! We're also in the midst of some significant changes in our club aircraft fleet. We sold Miss Daisy after many years of faithful service, and are (hopefully) closing in on the acquisition of a G-103. And our ASK-21 got a facelift, extending her role as a our premier trainer and ride ship. One final high note amongst many-our 10th Anniversary Gala just over a month ago. Oh what a night

I'm a bit reluctant to raise these next items, but it's important to reflect on all of our important events, even if they're not the happiest. Two matters stick out in my mind. The first are the serious shortages we have in our tow pilot and instructor ranks. We must address this matter both internally and externally in the coming year. I appeal strongly to all qualified members to add a tow pilot and/or CFI-G rating to their portfolio. These are some of the most rewarding things you can do as a soaring pilot. The second matter relates to Fred Mueller's unfortunate landout accident in July. We are so relieved that Fred was not injured, but it was a wake-up call that none of us are immune to the risks associated with this sport. If anything good can come of this, it is through a heightened level of care in all of our operations. Taking Direction Three years ago, we established a staggered structure to the board of directors which results in two director terms expiring in each new year. That is the case in 2002, as Dave Brunner and I take leave of our seats. Almost all of the executive authority in the club is vested with the directors, who are elected by the members at the annual meeting. We are accepting nominations up until January 26. Please throw your hat in the ring if you are willing. Any full member may run.

Again, it's been my great pleasure to be affiliated with this club. Although I'll be an inactive one, I will always be a member.

See you
-- Joe Parrish

The Club's Annual Membership Meeting will be held fro 2:00PM-5:00 PM on Saturday, January 26, 2002 at the FBO, FRR. This is the one formal meeting for the entire membership each year, and the meeting at which the members will elect two members of the Board of Directors for three-year terms. It's also the meeting at which all the year's activities are summarized, and serves as the major public forum for providing information and guidance to the Board members.

Shortly thereafter, the Club's Annual Mandatory Safety Meeting is scheduled for 10:00 AM-noon on Saturday, February 9, 2002 at FRR. More information on the program will be forthcoming soon from the Club's Operations Chief, Dave Weaver, but it's not too early to set aside this date/time on your calendars. Remember, attendance at this meeting (or viewing of the videotape made of it) is mandatory for all members before flying in 2002! (This date MAY change. Stay tuned.)

Agenda Skyline Soaring Club Annual Meeting Saturday, Jan. 26, 2002, 2:00 PM

• Call to Order
• Presentation of Annual Meeting Minutes, January 2000 - Jim Kellett
• President's Annual Report-Joe Parrish
• Treasurer's Report - Bob Collier
  
• Reports by Chiefs of-
  • Maintenance - Bill Vickland/Eric Litt
  • Instructors - Jim Kellett
  • Tow Pilots - Bill Bentley
  • Operations - Dave Weaver
  • Duty Officers - Dave Brunner
  • Membership - John Lewis
• Events Calendar
  
  • Safety Meeting - Dave Weaver
• Lands End Clothing - Phil Jordan
• Civil Air Patrol - Jim Kellett/Eric Litt
• Recognition Awards to Members -Joe Parrish
• Nominations for for Board of Directors (two, replacing Joe Parrish and Dave Brunner)
• Election of Directors
• New Business
• Adjourn

• Call to Order
• Welcome to new Board Members
• Election of Officers
• Appointment of "Chiefs"
• Minutes from November 18, 2000 Board Meeting Additions: Actions
• Completed via E-mail
• Treasurer's Report (supplemented)
• Old Business: Ray Charles Membership Definitions of Inactive Members
• New Business Rates for 2002 Season
• Adjourn

SAA Convention
the Warm Ontario

The next Soaring Society of America convention will be held February 7-9, 2002 in Ontario, CA (That's an eastern suburb of Los Angeles.) There will be a CFI(G) revalidation clinic on February 5 & 6 for CFI(G)s whose licenses have NOT expired. That Clinic also meets the FAA requirements for the ground instruction portion of the Biennial Flight Review (BFR).

This year's convention will include a unique opportunity to view, by special arrangement with Walt Disney company, the famous 1968 film "The Boy Who Flew with the Condors". This film was credited with stimulating a huge increase in interest in soaring in the United States, including a major leap in SSA membership. It is known to have triggered the enthusiasm of our very own Operations Chief, Dave Weaver, who, in his autobiographical notes published in http://skylinesoaring.org/NEWSLETTER/2000/0005news.shtml , acknowledges the power of this film on a young boy!

My wife Pat and I will be attending-I'll do both the Clinic and the convention. This will be, I think, our sixteenth convention. And VERY inexpensive airline tickets are still available from several sources.

Please consider participating in the convention. It is THE annual event that brings together in one place the people, equipment, and ideas of soaring in the United States and other nations. Meet the people you read about. See the equipment you drool over. Hang out in bars where NO ONE looks at you funny for flying an aircraft with no engine. For more information, see the current issue of SOARING magazine or http://www.airsportexpo2001.com

If you're planning on going, let me know and I'll see if we can arrange to have a "Skyline Night" at some point.
-- Jim Kellett

The following email from Piet Barber sparked a lively dialog, salient excerpts of which follow. Since Joe is leaving, and our cadre of instructors is ever-dwindling, the pressure on that ever-dwindling group of brave instructors is ever building-

It's time to realize that our club's and our sport's future is directly dependent on our ability to turn students into pilots. To ensure that goal, we must first turn our more experienced pilots into instructors.

Think about it: Do YOU have the required flight time and number of flights? Do YOU have at least a private pilots license in gliders? You know who you are. Do I need to name names?
-- Piet Barber

I'm willing to work with any people in the Club who want to pursue their CFI-G. I can also think of some folks in the Club who would make good instructor candidates. Following is a list of goals / hurdles that an instructor candidate should contemplate during the Winter recess: (By the way, I'm willing to fly over the Winter both personally and in the instructor capacity but I hear that the tow plane is down for the Winter)

To be an instructor (glider) you need to have a commercial pilot certificate. This will involve both a written and practical test. At least get the written out of the way before the season starts. There are various ways to study for this. Let me know if you need help. You need to take a test called the Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI). This is a no brainer to study for and can easily be done on your own. You need to take an instructor written test. You need to take the CFI-G Practical test. In simple terms, you need to demonstrate (teach) all maneuvers to the commercial standard and pass an oral portion of the test. this will require the greatest amount of preparation and work with an instructor. (I'm available).

As you can see, there is some work to be done. Don't let that discourage you!. This just means that you must get off the dime. Remember, there is a lot you can do on your own. As for the rest, the current crop of instructors will help but you absolutely must be self motivated. So, I think we're looking for a few good men / women.
-- Dave Weaver

Well, I'm willing to work on the flying part--and I'm MORE than willing to work with any instructors or instructor-wannabes on teaching techniques, particularly in the cockpit (but not limited to that). Curiously, these skills are NOT rigorously tested by any part of the training required by the FARs, so it won't be of much value in preparing for and passing the various tests. I'm talking about the "tricks of the trade" to help students with widely varying backgrounds, skills, and aptitudes make progress in their learning.

I'm much less willing to work on the knowledge parts of preparation for the various FAA writtens, and particularly the FOI-I flat out refuse to work on that with anyone. (Not that it's not important, it is--but I'm not good at it and I don't enjoy it so I don't do it.)

I'm REALLY hoping that a one or two of our other instructors-who are not only good at it but I think enjoy it-will step up and agree to lead a group of interested members through the rites of passage for the various FAA written exams for the CFI(G). Like, one of the folks who recently-like in 2001-successfully passed one of these exams is in a particularly good position to pass their skills along! (hint, hint).

Piet's generated a LOT of interest in doing some serious CFI(G) prep work this winter. Several members are now actively working on background reading and other activities as we work toward making something more concrete.

Meanwhile, interested folk might want to get a copy of Wander's "CFI(G) Checkride Made Easy" as one of MANY reference materials you may find interesting and valuable. See also the Club's list of recommended (and other) materials at http://skylinesoaring.org/docs/MaterialsSheet.pdf
-- Jim Kellett

What is FOD? Foreign Object Damage

What causes FOD? Loose objects in and around aircraft and engines, ground maintenance equipment, etc.

Where does FOD come from? Items left unattended, forgotten maintenance tools and supplies, objects dropped or "lost" in cockpits, loose objects left on runways/taxi ways/preflight areas and hangars.

Is FOD serious? Lost Concorde jet due to FOD. Millions of dollars of damage to aircraft and engines each year (both civilian and military).

Should Glider Operations be Concerned? YOU BETCHA!!! FOD can cause damage to tow planes, gliders and ground equipment just as it can disable and destroy multi-million dollar commercial and military aviation equipment.

Does it affect TSS? YOU BETCHA!!! Recently I was flying the TSS L-33 Solo and experienced a very scary and potentially fatal situation. At a recent meeting of the TSS Wednesday Afternoon Soaring group I was the first to fly the L-33. During the preflight of the aircraft I checked the battery area for battery security and connections, ensured the L-33 Manual was secure, stowed the canopy cover behind the seat then preceded with the rest of the preflight and positive control checks.

The subsequent flight was uneventful until my hour limit was almost up. Still having considerable altitude to lose I did a couple of straight-ahead and turning stall recoveries and then proceeded to do an uneventful single rotation spin & recovery to the right. This was followed by a spin recovery to the left. As the nose dropped and the speed began to increase I heard a loud bang as an object hit the canopy and began bouncing around the cockpit. At first I thought the canopy had come loose or something had structurally failed on the aircraft. Unnerved and slightly panicked I continued spin recovery procedures but found rudder response was somewhat restricted. This delayed recovery and allowed airspeed to build rather rapidly further increasing my anxiety levels. Finally completing the recovery and leveling the aircraft I was able to determine the cause of the problem. Apparently a power supply device was used to charge the L-33 battery (rather than removing the battery from the aircraft) and was left some where in the aircraft. I did not find it during preflight and it came loose during the spin maneuvers. It struck the canopy then partially lodged in the rudder pedal mechanism.

So you can see a chain of events that led up to a possible serious incident. 1) FOD left in the aircraft, 2) failure to discover FOD during preflight, 3) unusual attitude maneuver dislodging FOD, and 4) Murphy's Law in full effect when FOD lodged in rudder mechanism.

In addition, I have previously served as Sailplane Maintenance Officer for a couple of years. As part of the sailplane annuals the seat pan and cockpit floorboards are removed to check cabling/connections and tubular structure/condition. It is amazing what FOD is found in these area - pens and pencils, papers, apple cores, clips, plastic utensils, barograph sealing wire, etc - anything that can be dropped/lost in a cockpit will be lost.

So I encourage all TSS members-whether routinely flying, taking "guests", doing badge work where you have extra "stuff", changing out/charging batteries, performing maintenance, etc - think about FOD. The aircraft and pilot you save may be you!-Thanks to Joel Cornell, Frauke Elber and the Tidewater Soaring Flypaper for this eye-opener. Richard Freytag's recent experience gave us a good reason to look close, not only during upcoming annuals, but every pre-flight.
-- Joel Cornel

Aeronca flies its first solo: An unmanned Aeronca Champ reportedly took off on its own recently, after someone left it momentarily unattended with the throttle set at full. Loaded with but an hour's fuel and no pilot or passengers, the Champ is believed to have exceeded book performance in its climb to over 10,000 feet MSL. It seems that someone was performing maintenance on the Champ shortly before sunset at a private strip northwest of San Francisco, in Two Rock, Calif. When asked by a local TV news reporter how this could possibly happen, FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer replied: "Well, it was set at full throttle. There were no brakes. That's how it works." At AVweb, we're not quite sure if we believe this story, but apparently the FAA said it's true. There are no reports of future plans to repeat unmanned flight in this configuration.

Alas, the plane that tasted freedom came to a bad end. Though apparently taught to take off and fly, it had skipped the lessons on landing. Wreckage was discovered the next day near a dam at Lake Berryessa in Napa County.
-- Avflash

I know of a man who had a "ride" help him start the engine. The "ride" rode the plane into the hanger wall. Thankfully, no injuries, just pieces of prop and wall everywhere. And there was that guy at New Market who had the throttle up when he hand propped his plane. He ran out to the wing tip to help control it. The plane made a small circle and crashed into the fuel pump. Knocking the pump down and killing the engine. He and his buddies tried so hard to disassemble and remove the plane before Ed Raney showed up. They were not that fast.
-- Shane Neitzey

This story illustrates that even experienced pilots can make dumb mistakes. Another way to look at it: there are no dumb mistakes, only mistakes. Or perhaps in this case: bad habits that work fine for years "until one day". The danger is to read a story like this, chuckle to yourself, and imagine you would never do something that dumb.

Shane has a good point, by the way-what if he had a non flying passenger inside?

The Jan. 2 Metro Section of the Washington Post, page B2, "Flight School Owner Injured by Propeller" in St. Mary's (near Pax). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49760-2002Jan1.html

Another story of airplane tie-downs coming loose.

Also an opportunity to remind ourselves how dangerous props are. This guy was lucky to survive. It's unnerving to watch people walking out to meet the tow plane while it's still back taxiing after landing. This means they're walking directly towards the prop and I wonder if they appreciate the potential consequences of getting used to that. You may think walking into a spinning prop is unimaginably dumb, and yet people do it. You're hot, tired, and in a hurry; the prop is invisible, and so forth. Similarly, the tow pilot can mis-judge the turnaround, have braking/steering problems, etc.

A good practice to consider: Don't approach the towplane at all until after it has rolled to a full stop, and approach from the towplane's 6:00. If you need to talk to the pilot, go to aft of the cockpit and follow the fuselage up from there.

And of course: watch out for uninformed visitors, kids, dogs, and the like.

And let's not forget the unfortunate loss of the Lt. Governor of Virginia who, several years ago, walked into a spinning prop. He was doing what he had done many times before<8A>it had become routine perhaps.

Log This...

• YUP my Schleicher Ka-7 has finally got to go. Too many things going on in my life to do it all. First priority is going to my Jet glider project which one day I hope to have looking like a 1/3 scale U-2 recon bird, turbine, noise, black paint and all. Possibly even some "amateur radio E-lint package" to boot. Ham radio satellites are my other great passion<8A>along with the THORP T-18.

  Glider Details: Schliecher Ka-7 two place glider, fresh annual in Feb 2002, only about 770 total hours and no wrecks or dings, two varios to choose from RICO audio type and a very sensitive (good) silent vario for both front and rear seats. Terra 720 radio, open trailer, new canopy and fabric three years ago. This is a composite design of steel tube, plywood, fiberglass, Dacron fabric and spruce. Very good shape. $9.0K to club members, with some cost flexibility. Might be able to help with transfer of the hanger also. No guarantee on the hanger deal. great fun soaring machine. I've loved it for the past two years. Many many enjoyable afternoons of 'free' flying and no one to call me down.
  -- Glenn Baumgartner

• Green air Joe Parrish has been "the" formidable force in the Club's life--in many ways, more so that many of us founding greybeards. Much of the success of SSC rests on the shoulders of Joe's dedicated commitment not only to the management of the club but also to individual instruction and encouragement... everyone of us has benefitted by Joe's many talents.

• ...and warm beer and warm beer-Dave Brunner's contributions have been over a shorter period, but his meteoric rise in the Club to Director and owner is remarkable, plus many members can testify as to Dave's genuinely outstanding personal service to individuals as well-rebuilt panels, gear repairs, help with trailers, batteries, radios, varios, you name it. Most of the Club's private owners have been huge beneficiaries of Dave's "21st Century Renaissance Man" skills! The hole that he leaves will be large, and he will be sorely missed by the Club's more active pilots.

• The talents we each have been blessed with can only be developed if we use them fully to benefit the lives of others as well as our own. The fullness of our lives individually and collectively is proportionate to the depth of the relations developed between ourselves, our friends, and our activities.*-thanks Joe and Dave for all you've given of yourselves to all of us. Green Air... warm beer!

  *excerpted from The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg

• Looking for a few good persons-with Dave's return to the UK, 081 has a huge hole in it's heart. Bill and I will be looking for another partner, preferably one with some mechanical expertise. This is an excellent opportunity to built time inexpensively in a some-kind-of-fun classic glider-carpe diem. pja@his.com
  -- Phil Jordan

• This just in via an old fashioned paper newsletter: Jim Garrison's July Diamond Distance Flight has been officially approved by the SSA and this item: " Success, 3 flights, ...inform the Press, home by Christmas."

• A round of many thanks to Rob Mordhorst for hosting the annual Christmas party. It was one very good party thanks to Rob's warm hospitality.

• Opened my new AOPA Pilot and there among the myriad ads are Lee & Matt Buell's smiling faces. Like the pleasure of running into an old friend when you least expect it.