---------------------------------------------------------------
Sat. 11 Mar 00
This file is over 50k - time to begin a new volume of the diary.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Wed. 8 Mar 00
No reports received - this weekend (11 March) looks promising-
weather wise.
On the last entry I mentioned John and his new Discus - the correct
spelling is : John Kahrs. John has a web site on which he presents
his background in gliders. It is interesting reading for both those of
you who are just getting into gliders and for those who are interested
in seeing what those who are new to the sport are thinking about and where
they are coming from. take a look at John's web site at
http://www.geocities.com/~4point5/soaring/background.html
Received the new SOARING Magazine - Sergio has a big article therein.
West wind was also received - The mini-safety seminar and flying day
scheduled for the last weekend of March (March 24/26) was on page 14, but
I missed it on the first look through, and it wasn't on the calendar of
events. I was distracted by the BASA Amway Soap photo - bigger than
the article about the seminar. But the info is there. You just have
to look for it. "No fees. No registration. Just be there"
- as it says in the article.
I think the timing is good for that weekend. We have a better
than average chance that the weather will be very soarable! Besides,
it will be an organized weekend of presentations and flying, and dinner
- it should be very successful.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sun. 5 Mar 00
Found the problem with my motorglider engine. It was done at the
factory during manufacture - the plastic tie wraps that hold the wires
together were so tight in one spot, and on the edge of some equipment that
they cut through the wires - completely severing them. In the fall
(1999), I saw the plug wire cut through, so I replaced it, and now I discover
that the small 20 guage wires had also been cut in half. It's such a pain
to bring the bird back to Calistoga for repair, I did the soldering myself
- and probably did a better job. Now I have to put it back together.
Elden sent us a few photos of a bird that John Sinclair has built.
Here is Elden's email message
--------------
Peter,
John Sinclair (JJ) had his first flight in the Super Albatross he built
at
Orland today, everything went well. Kenny came and gave him a tow after
we
auto towed it a couple of times. John will be taking it to the Convention
and I'm sure he will be flying it at Williams. I attached some pictures
of the ship,
really a piece of work, need to see it.
Elden
---------------
Here are the photos that Elden passed along for all to see:
Photo of Super Albatross with JJ standing proudly
before it
Close up photo of the ship
Photo taken from the gound, of the ship inflight.
Photo of bird coming in for a landing.
Speaking of photos, as far as I know, Key still has his ASW 20 for sale.
Here are the photos of that bird ---- Click on each photo to see
it - they are all small files - less than 15 k each, so they will load
quickly.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
I met John Carrs (sp?) yesterday at WSC washing the sea salt off his
new cobra trailer with the new discus inside. A pretty ship - 7HV I think
it was.
I'll work on the weather pages a bit more - gotta the links so I can
look at them quickly, and just click on the first few to see the soaring
conditions.
I revised the wsc TP data base - I'll send it to John Leibacher.
I included the three new landout sites that Gary briefed to us at the seminar.
Received this email from Bill. Please let me know if some of you
readers find the link useful.
----------
Peter
....I ran across this page while looking for
things down there.(in georgia).
http://www.mindspring.com/~gmlawler/ses/storms.htm
Its for thermal index forecating. This page looks
useful to me. Although its produced by guys in the
south you can set it up for the local conditions. It
also seems pretty user friendly. Compared to a lot of
other things I've seen the product looks easy to
understand. ...............
cheers
bill carrington
-----------
Tony sent us this update about the PASCO League.
------------------
The 3 March PASCO League Bulletin is attached adding a new team for
a total of 6 teams at this time.
Tony
tgaechter@home.com
--------------------
As far as I know the safety seminar is still on for March 25 and 26th
at Williams.
Speakers will be Sergio, Gary Kemp, Richard Pearl and Peter Deane.
See the bulletin --
Read all about it at http://www.community.net/~soaring/ss300.html
I received the following from Carl. I tried to make a web page
out of the attachmnet and will link it to my revised weather page if I
ever get it to convert to a web page.
------------------
To Soaring Sites, Soaring Clubs, and interested Weather Enthusiasts:
I have attached a handout produced by Dan Gudgel, NOAA Meteorologist,
CFIG, and soaring forecaster from Hanford, California.
Dan produced this as an Appendix to his soaring meteorology briefing
at the February PASCO XC Seminar held at U.C. Berkeley. This list
provides the latest links for soundings, radar, high and low resolution
satellite imagery, and other forecast data for the region of California
and Nevada. In addition, other Links are provided for weather information.
Feel free to print and distribute to glider pilots. The more they
begin to use this data, the sooner they will learn nuances to interpret
for their own soaring forecasting.
The CD from the recent XC Seminar will be available for distribution
by no later than 16 April. This CD will contain definitions, explanations,
and interpretation of the NOAA data by Dan Gudgel and Kempton Izuno.
Thanks, Carl Herold
------------------
The new web page will be at http://www.community.net/~soaring/wxurls.html
If I ever get it to convert from.doc to .html
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 3 Mar 00 -- 10:30 PM
Good day at the glider port - Gary Kemp, as usual was the star - he
launched early, logged three hours, averaged 33 MPH. Off tow at 2800,
over to Walker, back to three sisters, down to Bereyessa, up to Leesville.
Marc Ramsey, Bob Ireland, me (P Kelly), Charlie Thayer, Steve Irwin
took a couple of tows. A few others also, but unless I write down
names, I lose them. It was a good warm up day.
Tomorrow? Saturday? Could be good - the jets (as in "jet Streams")
aren't consistent in the 24 and 36 hour fcst - the wx guys can't predict
it. I think I'll go out to the glider port again tomorrow and see
what develops.
I updated some of the wx page.
That worthless DG of mine has a bad mag again! still due to the
poor wiring job at the factory 18 months ago. I'll probably fix it
tomorrow.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 3 Mar 00
Send me you flying time! How many hours and how many flights did
you log in 1999???? When you send it to me, I will post the info
on the Glider Pliot Experience Web Page which is at: http://www.community.net/~soaring/tsgpe.html
That way everyone can see what others are logging. There will be
no name, and no way to tell who sent in what! So send in your statitstics!
Now!
See the forecast for today. Looks unusual. East winds at
mid and upper levels, showers tonight possible, sounding show good lift
to over 5,000, relative humidity is 20 to 40 %, good chance it might be
a good day for the first try of the year. Sat shows fog in vly from
winters to south of sutter buttes - ought to burn off by the time I'm rigggged!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tue. 29 Feb 00
Today is the day that only happens every 400 years - that's interesting.
There have been a few flights already this year - I hope to do my first
one at Williams this Fri or Sat.
I have a couple of emails to share - one from West Virginia and one
from Tony G.
Here's Tony's---
---------------
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 18:57:10 -0800
The following was sent to NCSA members yesterday and I wanted to share
it with you.
Tony
"PASCO and the PASCO League" by Doug Lent
Have you looked out the window lately? The weather isn't all gloom and
doom.
Spring is just around the corner. With the arrival of Spring will come
soaring weather. Of course you've already been flying the winter wave.
Haven't you?
PASCO (Pacific Soaring Council) has a simple mission statement: to promote
and further develop the education and skills of soaring pilots. The
mission
statement isn't quite that brief, but you get the idea. Safety, education
and
skills. Doesn't that sound like something we could all use? I strongly
encourage all glider pilots to be PASCO members,
Part of PASCO is the PASCO League. The League is intended to encourage
cross-country and competitive flying on a less than formal basis. It
is a
great way to increase your flying skills even if you don't usually
fly
cross-country.
Several venues are selected to encourage flying at different locations.
Local
knowledge is readily shared making it easier, safer and more fun to
try a new
venue other than striking off on your own. Tasks are chosen that are
realistic and doable considering the topography and weather conditions.
Major
weight is given to having landing sites available throughout the task(s).
The
League was designed to bring several pilots together as a team with
one
Novice, one Intermediate and one Pundit on each team. This concept
really
helps, as you can communicate with team members while airborne passing
along
pertinent information.
The Saturday night dinner/party is always a hoot. It's a great time
to relive
your flight and learn from your mistakes. What... you didn't make any?
Come
see me. I can always use a little help; I make lots of mistakes. Talk
with
your team members and other pilots about the flight and how you might
have
improved your performance. After all, misery loves company!
Tony Gaechter is PASCO League director this year and is already off
to a
great start. Teams are already being formed, and wouldn't it be great
fun to
have one or two teams from Silverado? Last year the Silverado "Slugs"
took
first place with the "Snails" trailing behind. Heehee. You needn't
own your
own glider to fly in the events. Club members are encouraged to fly,
and club
gliders can be made available for the League.
Get in touch with Tony for additional information at tgaechter@home.com.
------------------
And here is an email from Virginia. He has been reading the "Soaring
Tips"
------------------
From: "Elves, Robert G." <Robert.G.Elves@pmusa.com>
To: "'pjkelly@community.net'" <pjkelly@community.net>
Subject: Lift in Richmond VA
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 12:33:58 -0500
Thank you for your informative web page. I will highlight it to
my
students.
You may be interested to know that within a 1 hour flight of Richmond
Virginia, we can find all forms of lift (thermal lift, mountain wave
lift,
rotor lift, ridge lift, shear line lift, air mass convergence lift).
In the
summer we have great thermal lift due to the heat and moderate winds.
In
March we get great wave near Petersburg WV with altitudes up to 24,000
ft
and 9 hours duration or better. Associated with this wave is
a spectacular
rotor that is just a few miles west of the Petersburg Airport.
Many unwary
powered pilots have succumbed to its force. The Alleghenies and
Blue Ridge
Mountains are the "Streets of the East" for ridge and mass convergence
lift.
And we have excellent "sea breeze" lift in the summers along the Virginia
coast. They say that "Virginia is for Lovers." I say that
"Virginia is for
Soaring Lovers."
Robbie Elves, USAF Retired
FAA "Gold Seal" CFIG
----------
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sat. 26 Feb 00, later.
Had a thought today, at least one. I have started a new web page
called Glider Pilot Experience. See it at http://www.community.net/~soaring/tsgpe.html
It is linked from the Soaring
Tips pages. Check it out - I am hoping that many of you - no
matter where you live, no matter how little you may have flown in 1999,
will send me your statistics for 1999 - how many hours did you log, how
many flights did you fly, what state/country did you fly in, how many times
did you land out, other comments or info.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sat. 26 Feb 00
I received a note from Gary Kemp (- didn't open my mail until today):
-------------------
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 10:51:01 -0800
From: gkemp <gkemp@sunset.net>
To: pjkelly@community.net
Subject: Regionals
Pete: For your mailing list and Diary. Thanks, Gary
Region 11 North to be held at Siskiyou County, Montague, CA June 19-23,
Practice the 18th.
Contact: Nancy Kemp
-------------------------
I will send out an email to all pilots on my Soaring Pilots INC
email list sometime in the next week or two. Hopefully I'll have
more to include in the message.
I'd like to provide you with a detailed summary of the soaring seminar
from last week, but I doubt that I will have the time to write it.
Can anyone give me a summary of what was presented?? Maybe throw
in your personal opinions as approp.??? Readers like to see other
opinions! So send yours to me so I can print it here!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 25 Feb 00
Lots has happened and lots of things are planned. Haven't received
any inputs so little to relay.
Spent a week updating the Tips
on Soaring pages. All files there were renamed, reorganized,
redated, and revised to some extent. Check them out - send me feedback!
Last week was the all day soaring seminar at UC Berekely. It was
worthwhile. I was glad I went. If you haven't been, then go
to the next one. you shouldn't go soaring without atttending one
of these. I didn't go the first time. This was the second annual.
All of that said, my opinion is that there is absolutely no reason that
all of that seminar could not have been put on the internet! It is
a lot of work to put it all together, and it was well done. But why
not have it on the internet??? I think it may be an ego thing.
People need to receive the positive strokes. Besides, people will
get if it is presented to them, but won't take the time to review all of
the web pages necessary. And the speakers need the reaction of the
audience. And if its on web pages, that is a continuing process,
and there is very little feedback. I will continue to revise my Soaring
Tips pages, and keep you informed on what I am doing, and will do revisions
as you send them in. however, if you have never sent me any tips,
you ought to!
I had comments from several people who said they read this diary page
regularly, and each thanked me for keeping it up. Those personal
comments are the only thing that motivate me to keep going with this.
Sometimes I think no one reads this column, but every once in a while I
get the necessary feed back that tells me this work is not in vane.
If my efforts result in just one pilot avoiding an accident, then I feel
I have been compensated for my efforts. Speaking of motivations .....
Cindy hosted a small dinner party at which she graciously presented
the PASCO Service Award to me, in the company of peers whom I admire and
respect. Thank you Cindy.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sun. 6 Feb 00
Its almost a beautiful spring day - at least the sun is shining brightly,
and it was light out before 7AM. Soaring season will soon be here.
Last night in Vacaville, at Pietros, the first VSA meeting of 2000 was
held. I suspect the attendance was good, and things were talked about -
anticipation of the coming season, who has what type of glider, etc.. I
couldn't be there. Almost made it. Flew back and forth between LAX and
SFO a few times yesterday. It was looking good at about 4 PM - thought
I'd make it to the meeting by 7, but alas, the flight back up was delayed.
Anybody have a debrief of the meeting?
The cross country seminar is approaching - the one in Berkeley, on 19
Feb. Carl states that he has lots of people coming. As I recall, it is
approaching 100 people. Looks like I may be able to make that event.
I posted the latest WSC data base on my TP web page, and I think John
Leibacher has posted that version on the SSA page as well. I hope that
is helpful to those of you planning to fly at Williams and/or Crazy Creek
this spring.
A warning note about the wave forecast charts that I mentioned last
week (Thurs 2 Feb). I was reminded that that forecast is a simplification,
not a complex analysis. And further, it is NOT trying to predict smooth
mountain wave suitable for good lift, but it is attempting to forecast
turbulence created by mountain wave!! I will change my weather forecasting
page today to reflect this note.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Thurs. 2 Feb 00
For those of you interested in predicting wave flights, Steve Irving
has provided me with a site that shows wave- with forecast up to 12 hours.
Combine that with you close watch of the jet stream charts, and you probably
can't miss. Go the the weather page at http://www.community.net/~soaring/w
xndx.html to see the products.
Soaring season is coming. Are you getting ready?? I'm trying to
get ready. Bird has had the annual, I've been reviewing soaring materials,
I'm trying to get my chores, projects and honey-dos out of the way, but
that's a never ending battle. Updates to the gps data bases are just
about done for now.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mon. 31 Jan 00
Revised the Truckee data base - which is suitable for Air Sailing, and
Minden as well as Truckee. See it at http://www.community.net/~soaring/tptr
k.html Many thanks to John Leibacher and Jim Darke for all of
their revisions to that file..
Sergio sent me a couple of announcements, which I made into web pages.
Sergio has organized a mini safety seminar. It will happen in
March. Read all about it at http://www.community.net/~soaring/ss3
00.html
Sergio has also put out a call to all pilots to participate in the Sawyer
Award. Read that msg at http://www.community.net/~soaring/sa
-call.html
The cross-country seminar is still on for Saturday, 19 Feb at UC Berkeley.
Read the diary entry below for last Monday the 24th for more info.
I rewrote the Soaring Tips about Performance. See that version
at http://www.community.net/~soaring/t-p
erf.html
I received some inputs about some of the Soaring Tips, thank you very
much. I will revise those affected pages in the near future.
Keep those cards and letters coming.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mon. 24 Jan 00
CONGRATULATIONS to VSA Secretary and President - Diana B, Secretary
(with help from Mike, I'm sure) and to Bob Ireland, President. They published
a beautiful newsletter for January. Along those same lines - the VSA has
announced there will be a meeting - just like back in the old days (early
'90's). the mtg. will be held in Vacaville on Sat, Feb. 5th. It was clever
to have it on that date and at that place. If you aren't going flying,
it is an easy drive from Sacto or the Bay Area, and if you do go fly, it
is an easy drive from Williams, and the timing is excellent. The first
soaring activity will be the PASCO Seminars in Berkeley later in Feb.,
and it is before any three day holidays. I would think it would be
a good idea if you called Williams at 530-473-5600, and tell Angie or Kenny
to put your name on the list for the meeting - that way they know how many
will be coming and they can have an extra waitress, or set up more tables
(you can even send an email directly to Diana at dbishey@aol.com)
- Here are the details in Diana's msg to all:
--------------------------------------------
To: dbishey@aol.com
From: Diana Bishey
Subject: Next VSA Meeting
Dear All:
The next VSA Meeting will be held on Saturday, February 5, 2000, 6:30 p.m.
at Pietro's Pizza #2, 679 Merchant Street, Vacaville, CA. This should give
everyone plenty of flying time at Williams and then time to travel to
Vacaville for dinner and a short meeting. Hope to see you all there.
The VSA Newsletter has been mailed to all current VSA members and should be
received shortly.
Diana Bishey
----------------------------------------------
Here are details on Pietro's #2 -
The phone number (in case you get lost on the way there) is 707-448-4588.
There are two primary streets in Vacaville - one is Alamo and the other
is Merchant. If you are coming from Williams, you will connect from I-5
to I-80, and you will be going West on I-80. If you are coming from Sacto,
you be West on I-80. In either case, take the last Vacaville exit called
Alamo Dr / Merchant St. After you come off of that exit, you will have
a traffic light. Continue straight ahead, for about 1/2 mile, and just
before the Dairy Queen, you will see Peitros #2 is on the right.
If you are coming from Fairfield or the Bay Area, you will be on I-80
Eastbound. Get off at the first Vacaville exit - Alamo Drive. On that exit
ramp take the second part of the exit to North Alamo - that is pass under
the overpass on the ramp, and then over the overpass over the top of I-80.
After passing over I-80 you will be at the light (Shell station will be
across the street from you) - make a right turn . Go about 1/2 mile, and
just before the Dairy Queen, you will see Peitros #2 is on the right.
Also, Carl has sent out directions to the Berkeley cross country seminar.
As with all of my files, each file is less than 20 k so they will load
nearly instantly.
Click here
to see the map. I will also put it on the web site that I made up which
can be seen at: http://www.community.net/~soaring/xc
200.html
And one more thing, Carl also sent out a photo showing Sumner standing
in the lecture hall where the cross country seminar will be held. Click
here to see the photo of Sumner in the lecture hall.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mon. 17 Jan 00
Spent a few more hours updating the Truckee/Minden Data base. Put a
tentative version on the TP web page, but will revise it again soon. Getting
good help from John Leibacher on sorting it out.
Had conversation with Sergio yesterday. He was going flying and promised
a report, and sure enough he sent us one. Here is Sergio's report of his
first flight of the year. He now holds all the records at Williams for
the year 2,000. Here is his report:
--------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAMS FIRST YEAR's (and MILLENNIUM's) FLIGHT
Sunday January 16, 2000 the forecast was leaning towards a wave day. There
was a 50 to 70 knots wind at 18000. Sergio consulted telephonically with
Peter Kelly, the Williams met man (occasionally the mad man). The metmad man
produced several computer maps, diagrams, pressure charts and the response
was: yes.
Sergio has been for a long time a follower and an admirer of the Williams
metmadman and had no doubts that if Peter says yes, whatever it means,
something is going to happen.
So hit the road at once.
Nobody else was going to fly at Williams that day, only Kenny was there
ready for instruction (meaning, to give instruction). The two big black dogs
were not inclined to fly either but were ready to beg for food, which they
did instantly as soon as they saw Sergio. But here is Sergio's report:
After dodging the dogs I immediately began to assemble my Discus, with the
help of good fellow Kenny. From time to time we were both looking at the
sky. There was a line of clouds coming from the southwest and passing
directly over Williams; something that appeared like a shear line. There
were a few other clouds in the valley, and more consistent lines of cloud
along the Three Sisters ridge and beyond. As soon as we assembled, some
light rain began to fall.
It stopped showering and I took off at 2 PM behind friendly Mark. After two
months or more of not flying, many things appeared somewhat strange. On tow,
the L-NAV was indicating lift of 118.6 fps. I disregarded it until later,
when a more accurate investigation revealed that actually the indication was
relative to two different values closely spaced, and I had to read it as 11
and 8.6.
The revelation came in a flash, and was instantly followed by the thought
that it was a very good value, and it was a good thing to release. I
instantly pulled the yellow lever, immediately realizing that I had acted by
impulse and may be my action was premature. Anyway, I was at about 4000' so
that was not completely wrong either.
I eventually found a good thermal, 200 to 300 fpm in the averager, which
took me up for a while. From here I tried to go around and stay up, with no
illusions of 500 km. The weather was changing constantly and I found weak
lift for most of the time. I was able to arrive 1 mile east of the ridge,
but not to reach it.
After 1 hour I saw the Grob with Kenny instructing the dentist (I mean,
Kenny was giving a flying lesson to a lady, who happens to be a dentist). A
couple of time, I saw soaring birds and I followed them religiously, being
rewarded by decent lift. Another 20 minutes later, during an interval in
which I was at 2000' and lower, I saw the Duo Discus with Rex and Peter
Deane being BFR'd (only Peter was being BFR'd - gosh, I wish I write right
the first time so I don't need further clarifications). They were well
higher than me and going toward the ridge.
Right at that moment I finally found a good thermal, to 300 fpm in the
averager, which took me quickly up. From here I followed the Duo in
direction of a big cloud 1 mile from the ridge. Here, about 1 mile south of
Hwy 20, I had a good climb, finally reaching 4300', highest elevation for
the day. I could see the Duo promptly closing in, but now 1000' below.
The clouds were disappearing and the sun was low. What to do now? I went
south in front of the ridge, with occasional zero sink but slowly losing
altitude. I could not tell if the ridge was working, I was too high. Earlier
in the day I could see waves in small bodies of water.
I reached the Rumsey gap being 200' above the ridge and 400' below glide to
reach Williams (the computer is set to 1000' above Williams AP). I came
slowly back, maintaining approximately level with the ridge top. I reached
the last tops of the ridge, about 2 mile south of Colusa 20, and I directed
myself toward the airport. Now I was 400' above glide. I landed at 4.50 PM.
So the balance is: max altitude 4300', time 2h 50m, distance 20+20=40 miles.
At least I flew: difficult to find a flyable day in winter. I will reach
Mount Shasta another time.
May the lift be with you always.
--------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sat. 15 Jan 00
Another rainy day. I sent a "Soaring Update" msg to all on my
mailing list. If you didn't get that msg today, and you wish to receive
future update messages, then tell me to add your address to the list--
pjkelly@community.net I see there are several names on Carl's
address list that are not on mine, but I don't want to send people unwanted
mail.
There will be lots of things coming up in the next few months, I'm looking
fwd to the year 2000 soaring season. Hopefully, we can look fwd to
reading about the first few soaring adventures here on the diary pages.
Please send in your reports, so others will know where and when the soaring
is happening.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 14 Jan 00 - second entry - this entry at mid-day.
Carl Herold is organizing a cross-country seminar as he did last year.
He just sent out a notice to lots of people and I received a copy.
If you didn't get the notice, click
here to see it. I made a web page out of it. If you have
questions, contact Carl - this is all the info that I have on it.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 14 Jan 00
I'm spending some time revising the turnpoint (TP) data base that I
use for flying from Minden, Truckee, and Air Sailing - I use the same data
base for all three, but I change the one listed as "Home". I maintain
web pages that list all of the TP's that I use. Jim D produces full
color charts with the most of these TP's depicted on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets
for use in the cockpit. Together we are modifying the existing data
base and will soon have it revised yet again (it gets revised on a regular
basis). I will post it on the web pages, and Jim will produce new
charts. After it is "finalized" John Leibacher usually updates the SSA
pages as well. Here are some of the latest changes that Jim and I
are working on this month ---
101,41:46.90N,122:28.00W,2650F,TA,Montague-R1,
102,39:09.80N,122:07.90W,68F ,TA,WSC-R1,16/34 25K 23.5
103,40:31.90N,121:49.00W,3880F,TA,Shngltown-R3,122.9
104,40:29.00N,121:39.03W,10460F,T,Mt Lassen-U9,
107,40:10.80N,121:05.00W,4500F,T,AlmanrDam-U8,
213,39:54.70N,120:05.95W,8200F,T,Adams8197-U7,E of Frencmn Lake
214,39:53.85N,120:11.40W,5500F,T,Frnch Dam-U7,
216,39:46.05N,120:26.00W,7250F,T,PortlaTwr-U6,
228,39:32.85N,120:11.10W,8140F,T,WhiteHous-U8,TA4
Also, a name change...Nevada Flyers is now Spanish Springs
Also, "Pond Peak" will be added to the list. as well as WhiteMtPk,
and Freel Pk.
DonnerSmt-U7, 39:22.00N,120:21.00W,7070F,T,
Mt Pluto-U2, 39:14.20N,120:08.30W,8620F,T
DayDreams-U9,39:16.42N,120:00.39W,7000F,T,PFD if low
SergElev-U9,39:12.00N,119:55.00W,9000F,T, PFD if low
BaldyGap-U8,38:47.80N,119:32.00W,7800F,T,S Way Point
MVA-Mina VOR,38:33.90N,118:02.00W,4500F,T,
Hawkns Pk-U9, 38:44.40N,119:52.00W,10020F,T,
TiogaPass-U5,38:53.80N,119:13.40W,13060F,T,
GlassMtn-U9,37:46.50N,118:42.60W,11120F,T,
W ofMamth-U7,37:36.50N,119:09.85W,11150F,T,
BTY Beatty VOR,39:48.00N,116:44.90W,3200F,T,
MtWhitney-U7,36:34.90N,118:17.70W,14490F,T,
also adding / changing "PNut Arpt-R4", Mt Siegel, pk l9451,
and listing each VOR in our flying region, for reference -- Beatty,
Mina, Coaldale, etc. Note: "PFD" after some TP's is abbrev for - Prepare
For Ditching in the water.
I have received only a few feedback messages on the web pages that are
"Tips about Soaring". Either no one is reading them, or the
info is not worthwhile or controversial, or it is so good that it doesn't
need improvement, or it is so bad that it is not worth your time to give
me any input. I have rewritten the few sections that people have
mentioned to me. I have received many reports that the pages are
interesting, but relatively little constructive input. If you have
any comments, suggestions, corrections, or additional tips, then please
send them to me at pjkelly@community.net
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tue. 11 Jan 00
Two or three reports, depending on how you count 'em.
I flew out of Reno on Jan 1 at 2:30 PM in a powered plane. Over Washoe
Lake, going through 15,000 I called on 123.3 and 123.5 to see if any gliders
were in the air, but received no response. I thought Minden was going to
have a flying day on New Years day, but I guess it didn't happen. I can
attest to the wave conditions. There was a good line of lift from Reno
International south along 395, just as usual on wave days. I was able to
keep the jet on the upwind side of the lennie, and was above 20,000 by
the time I was just past Carson Valley. Good lift!!
Another report for today (Tues, 11 Jan) - four hours ago (9 AM) I was
proceeding from overhead the resort at Death Vly, and going direct to Merced
at 31,000. An Air Bus reported moderate to severe turbulence just ahead,
30 minutes earlier. We didn't see or feel any turbulence - we only had
smooth air. But we did hit the wave just past Lone Pine as we headed west.
I pulled the throttles to idle for several seconds as we approached redline
(max airspeed), and as soon as the speed started to decrease I set max
climb power, and while it was set, we continued to decelerate from over
300 (.81 Mach) to nearly 250 kIAS (.72 Mach), but we managed to stay at
flight level 310 the whole time. The lennines below us looked like whipped
cream that had been smoothed over - real sharp edges all around. I'd never
seen them that thick or sharp before. Wind was west at 56 kts.
Here's a report from Kenny at Williams from yesterday:
--------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon., 10 Jan 2000 20:20:12 -0800
Hi Pete,
Had a good wave flight with a student, Karl Brummert, today.
Conditions in the morning were partly cloudy with a westerly flow and by
afternoon, winds had picked up to 25-30kts. At 2:00pm we took off and
found the wave under a 4000ft cloudbase 2 miles east of Three Sisters.
We found 3-4kts in front of a rotor cloud and climbed immediatly to
8500ft and moved forward into the hills where we climbed to 11600ft. At
that point, the wave had petered out, but we still made use of the
abundant lift and ran south to Rumsey and then north to Stoneyford.
The clouds were closing in and the sun was going down so it was a short,
but sweet flight.
BTW: winds at 12,000 ft were 260 degrees @ 60kts.
Take Care,
Kenny Price
-----------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sat. 8 Jan 00
The new 2000 year soaring season has started. Sergio is busy revising
the Sawyer Award rules, Tony is organizing the PASCO League for this season,
Carl is working on x-c seminars, Jim is revising the Truckee turnpoints
lists, and Key is going to buy a new glider. This last item is most
noteworthy if you have been thinking about owning your own ship, or thinking
of an upgrade. Here is how Key describes the sale:
ASW20, radio, water, oxygen, Borgetl B50 vario, Komet trailer. $27,500.
Key Dismukes 408 243-0891.
One thing about Key - he is not a dramatist! There's no flare,
no color, no hype in that ad. It is understated. He is selling
a nice ship. I don't know anyone who has an ASW-20 that doesn't like
it. This ship was one of the early ones, but it will still win contests.
He is a great pilot and an all around great guy, and if I can do anything
to help, I will. Along those lines, let me show you some photos that
I snapped while gliding back to Williams with Key last May. Click on each
photo to see it - they are all small files - less than 15 k each, so they
will load quickly.
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 24 Dec 99
Seems like each Friday it's time for an update to this diary. Three
emails to share.
First is a notice about L-13's for sale.
Next is an update and holiday greeting from Lee.
Finally a revision on PASCO Meeting dates from Charlie and Rosemary.
L-13's for sale.
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: K1604@aol.com
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 16:43:58 EST
Subject: L-13's For Sale
I have available numerous L-13's for sale. These L-13's are in excellent
condition...all have under 1000 TTSN...currently have a 1978 with 575 hrs
TTSN...ready for shipment from the LAK factory...L-13 is completely
reconditioned and in mint condition and is available to be certified in the
standard airworthy cert(C/A..USA)...$19,500 total price, includes shipping
delivered to JAX, FL and airworthy inspection completed..The only requirement
is the buyer must supply airspeed and altmeter..which is in KPH and
Meters.....
Please drop a note if your interested....
Regards,
Shawn
904.269.5861
ps....here are 2 pic's of the quality of work...Our club in FL has order
2..another operation in Gainesville, FL purchased one also....for info
concerning the workmanship..please call Bob Oehl at 352.473.5295
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Msg from Lee Edling.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 20:06:20 -0700
From: Lee Edling
Subject: Odds and Ends and HH
Hi,
It is Monday, time to watch the Broncos tonight. At least the 49ers
came back yesterday.
GayLynn is asleep. Her fever has been 103 today. She has been sick for
a few days.
Tomorrow I've got an all day student. Normally we are off on Monday and
Tuesday, but a student wants to pay $400 for 8 hours of my time tomorrow
(he gets the aircraft for free but has to pay for tows), so we've got a
tow pilot (I trained him last week) coming in.
If you've got 300 hours of tail dragger time, I can check you out! It
is weird sending someone off in a single place aircraft. Usually in the
gliders, I always watch the first takeoff and landing, but in the
Pawnees, I just tell them to taxi around until they feel like flying.
Of course, that comes after several hours of talking and dual tows in
the Super Cub. I don't have time to watch.
LJ, I guess so much for that Apache you wanted to purchase, there will
always be another. I've been thinking, you may want to put your
expertise to use in aircraft salvage. One of our students from Oklahoma
is from a family who owns FLY-A-PART. Pretty cute name! That was a
wild story about U.S. Marines masquerading as French soldiers in
Indochina!
We've had trouble with leaf cutter wasps filling up the Pitot tube on
our Grob. I punctured a tennis ball (easy to spot on preflight) and
placed it on the Pitot tube, which is near the top of the vertical fin,
but Spot, Drew's dog, gets his muddy paws up there and takes the ball.
Reminds me of the young black lab that used to dig a tooth in and pull
the rubber balls out of the floats on my C-180.
Drew (my boss) says our Duo Discus is on the boat from Germany. I
looked for the THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR on video a couple of days ago. It
features a Duo Discus glider. I guess it should be out soon. Rick
Walters, 4 times U.S. Soaring Champ and current 18 meter champ gave us a
talk a couple of weeks ago at our BASA meeting. He had some pictures of
the soaring area and air field where some of the glider scenes of the
TCA were shot. That is where he won the 18 meter championship last
spring--on the ridges of Pennsylvania.
Two of our week end tow pilots have Doctorates and work for NASA. One
of them was involved in the Mars lander (he may become an astronaut for
Mars) that didn't phone home. He was at JPL waiting with special
software to start decoding stuff. Bummer. It was interesting to listen
to his insights.
Look on the Hollister Gliding Club web site to see some pictures of me.
Our web master may have a picture of me flying inverted in the Grob
while the ASK-21 is upright in the foreground. We may have a cover on
Air & Space of the ASK-21 going vertical--we'll see.
Check it out at http://www.soarhollister.com or check out my web site at
http://home.earthlink.net/~ledling/ and see what is going on. I'll get
an update to my site in a week.
It is getting late, so just a HH (Happy Holiday) wish to all,
Lee and GayLynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Msg from Charlie and Rosemary, about PASCO meeting dates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 11:49:36 -0800
From: Charlie & Rosemary
Subject: Pasco Board meeting dates
Hi guys,
The meeting dates for the Board meetings as published in the Nov./Dec.
Westwind are incorrect. The meetings will be on the first Monday of each
month, NOT Tuesday. The dates for the first four meetings in Y2K will be
Jan.3, Feb.7, Mar.6, and Apr. 3. The meetings will continue to be held at
7:30 pm in the terminal building at Buchanon Field, Concord, Ca.
The change in dates is due to an administrative foul-up on my part. The
editor and publisher of Westwind were working with info that I gave them. I
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
The next issue of Westwind will reflect these changes.
Would you please post this at your site for the next couple of months?!
Regards,
Charlie Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 17 Dec 99
Received a report about the success of the Christmas Party (Dec 11)
that you all were invited to at Williams. Flying wasn't great, and
wave never developed, but it was a good get-together
Received this from Lee E.
Look on the Hollister Gliding Club web site to see some pictures of
me.
Our web master may have a picture of me flying inverted in the Grob
while the ASK-21 is upright in the foreground. We may have a
cover on
Air & Space of the ASK-21 going vertical--we'll see.
Check it out at
http://www.soarhollister.com
or check out my web site at
http://home.earthlink.net/~ledling/
and see what is going on. I'll get an update to my site in a
week.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Fri. 10 Dec 99
We haven't received any flight reports recently, although I suspect
there may have been some decent flights. Weather has been changeable,
with no heavy storms yet.
I have added another couple of pages to the new pages called "Tips for
Soaring Pilots". One is about Windshear and Microbursts. I
pass on some info that Nevin experienced this past summer. Read it
and share your stories - If you fly a glider, you have undoubtedly experienced
windshear in one form or another. Please try to put into words -
what you have learned from a specific experience, and send it to me for
publication, so that others may learn.
Another section of the tips covers Retrieves and Crewing. Thanks
to Cindy for preparing that discussion.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Wed. 24 Nov 99 (day before Thanksgiving)
Didn't receive any more flight reports, but I do have some report for
you. Yesterday I flew up to Portland Or. and back (in a jet).
I thought you'd be interested to know that Scott Valley - just west of
Montague, is covered in snow, and it's very easy to pick out the Quartz
Turnpoint. I remember several years ago (pre-gps days) when we looked
all over for it because we had to take a photo of it as a turnpoint.
I don't know if it was Stewart or Gary that always said it was easy to
find. Well it sure was easy to pick out in the snow, as the creeks
made clear lines in the snow.
As I returned south I flew through Reno to the Bay Area. Lots
of wavlets (small lennies) south of honey lake and west of air sailing
(yes, I told the passengers we were flying over the gliderport).
Departing south out of Reno, I observed a dusting of snow on the ridge
just west of Topaz Lake. I never knew it snowed over there.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Mon. 22 Nov 99
Several items. I spent lots of hours organizing and editing "TIPS FOR
SOARING PILOTS" which now appear on the web pages under http://www.community.net/~soaring/tips.html
Check it out if you get a chance, and share your tips with others. Every
glider pilot has something to contribute! Tid bits that you learned that
you use often as you go soaring. send some in.
The new Board for the VSA has organized a get together for the 11th
of Dec at Williams. Following are some of the details from Diana.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 08:57:30 -0600
From: Diana Bishey <dianab@uclink4.berkeley.edu>
Subject: VSA Holiday Flying Day and Christmas Party
The VSA is sponsoring a Holiday Flying Day and Christmas Party on Saturday,
December 11, 1999. Please see the attached flyer for further information.
This flyer is being mailed to you as well.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact me
through this email address or at xxxxxxxx.
See you at Williams!!!
Diana
----------------------------------------------------------------
I deleted Diana's phone number, but you can call WSC at (530)473-5600 for
the additional info. I couldn't put the flyer on the web page, due to incompatibility
technical problems, but the essence of it is - there will be a briefing
on flying in the Williams Wave Window. That brief will begin at 10 am.
Hopefully there will be a good day of flying. In the evening, Rex and Noelle
will have an open house for all members and friends and supporters of VSA.
There will be a pot luck dinner, so bring a dish to share, and please bring
a white elephant gift to exchange. If you didn't get Diana's email or paper
flyer you missed a nice graphic. Here it is if you wish to see it
- a beauticul sunset in the west.
Here is a report by Sumner on his recent landing adventure behind three
sisters.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 19:35:28 -0800
To: pjkelly@community.net
From: Sumner P Davis
Subject: The sisters three
The new landing strip west and north of the Three Sisters is a welcome
addition to the alternate landing spots in case you can't make Charters or
Williams. However, it is not to be used on a regular basis, but only for
emergencies. If you do land out, it is imperative that you go to the house
and talk to the owners.
Actually there are two strips about 1/4 mile apart; the easterly one runs
almost N-S , while the westerly one is SE to NW. Their altitude is 600
feet. Both strips are of ample length to accommodate even the ASH.
The westerly one is darker and wider, but it is NOT to be landed on. The
surface is scraped and level, and consists of mud clods, from small to
several inches across. There is a low fence at the north end; the south
end is clear. However, and most importantly, there is a serious hazard
located half way between the ends of the runway. It is a small windsock
mounted on a 2 inch steel pipe about 8 feet high, only 13 feet from the
centerline, right where you might wish to touchdown.
The easterly runway has a smooth hard-packed surface. Along its east side
is a wire fence with steel posts, not easily visible from the air. The
fence is 30 feet or so from the centerline of the runway, which means there
is room to land a 15 meter ship. Rex thinks the ASH could land there by
touching down on the westerly side of the strip.
So how did I find out about these strips? I got down to 1800 feet MSL and
still had hopes of finding lift. The strips looked good and I opted not to
fly east to the valley and look for Charters. I always have trouble
finding it, and did not have the GPS set up without more button punching
than I felt able to cope with since I was so low. There are low hills on
all sides of the valley where the strips are. It was easy to circle as if
I were ridge soaring, but there was no lift anywhere, so I circled slowly
downward. On the radio, Rex had said to land on the easterly strip, but as
I was making the last circle before entering a downwind pattern, I saw the
fence and the steel stakes. I didn't feel my judgment of the strip width
from the air was likely to be accurate, and I didn't want to take the
chance of running into the fence if I should ground loop. So I switched to
the other runway, without having the time to survey it from a low
altitude. I did not see the windsock until on the final approach ready to
touch down at a fairly slow speed. I pulled up and over, and dropped in,
stopping 300 feet from the sock. On the ground, radio signals do not reach
Williams base. When the tow plane came, it landed on the hard strip, but
the two of us could not push the ship across the plowed field. We ended up
by taking off from the north end of the strip I landed on. Rex had flown
in also, and ran the wing. It was a bumpy takeoff with lots of mud
flying. We circled on tow a couple times right over the strips until we
could clear the hills. It was like ridge soaring on tow, and worth the
price of a retrieve. Scary but safe. Tach time was $42.
----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tue. 16 Nov 99
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Info file at
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