Lots of flying and long flights today, WQ, B9, IC, i1, and the club 1-34 and 1-26 all flew long multi-hour flights today. There was decent lift to 7K, good streeting with the occasional down cycle.
If you haven’t joined the mid-week flying email list, contact Greg Hunter and get on it!.
In between spraying the stripes on the yellow 2-33 refurbishment project, B2 provided the final tow for Jerry in i1 after he towed everyone else so that everyone could get in the air.
A huge thanks to Bill Batesole and a crew of NESA members including Andy K., Larry P., Paul H. and Bob I. who all showed up at 9am this morning to help. Yellow was applied to the fuselage.
Good soaring today and some more spring-check rides completed.
John Watkins and Paul Happ both completed their spring check-out’s with Jerry. Jerry also gave an intro lesson to a potential new member from West Windsor.
B9, IC, i1, VOL and the 1-34 all had nice long soaring flights today also with good streeting and lift to a 7k. Greg Hunter had another 5+ hour flight (two weekends in a row), found some weak wave close to Ascutney and got to 9,200 ft!
While we haven’t had the driest of starts to the Spring soaring season, we are getting some good flying if you can pick you days. So, if you haven’t been out to the field yet, watch the weather and come out and fly!
Sun 5/19
Perhaps not a flying but, it’s dry and Bill is out working on the 2-33 refinish, spraying silver on the tail-feathers today.
Thanks to all who showed up for the Spring Safety seminar. For those that registered for Wings you should see credit on your FAA wings profile in a week or so.
After the seminar we had a great lunch cook-out, burgers, kielbasa, hotdogs, Veggie burgers, Mac Salad, Bean salad and more. Thanks to all who helped with that.
Of course mid-afternoon we finally got around to some flying. Lee Blair completed his flight review with Jerry and several ships had some great soaring flights in good conditions. At one point the 1-34, 1-26, i1, IC, B9, Q2, VOL and the CAP Blanik were all in the air at the same time, so some good thermal markers scattered around.
So, if it isn’t already obviously from the above, the season is off and running, come out and fly!
With Many thanks to Bill Dietrich, Larry Perry and Walter spring check-flights are now available for qualified 1-26 and 1-34 pilots using the PW-6 (i1).
The 1-26 is on the line. Greg Hunter had a nice 3-1/2 hour flight last weekend. The 1-34 annual is finishing up and should be on the line shortly also.
So come out, get your Spring check-ride and go-fly.
I heard from Bill Batesole this morning, and due to an unanticipated improvement in the weather and a few hours of unexpected “free time” available from NESA’s favorite FedEx driver, the yellow 2-33 is another step closer to being back in service.
Although the wx forecast yesterday called for mostly
overcast skies with showers, the forecasters changed their minds this morning
to at least partly sunny skies and low winds.
At mid-late morning there was a fair amount of activity at
VSF…Walter had (of course) arrived, and N60AB, the owner of the Beech Duke
that commutes between ISP and VSF, was on final. The Upper Valley Flight Club’s
C-172 was flying patterns. B2 arrived and towed Walter to 2500′ and by the time
the Pawnee landed, Walter was climbing through 6000′
Bill did the work that required brains, I provided the
brawn, or that amount I had available. Bill was hoping to get two more
cross-coats of primer on both sides of the 2-33 tail feathers, and that went
much smoother than expected. With the sun and weather holding up, Bill was able
to get the final primer coats on the nose of the 2-33, as well.
As we finished packing the 2-33 fuselage back into Bill’s workshop around 3:30 pm, Walter called overhead, inbound to land. A pretty spectacular soaring day.
With a lot of help from Larry and Alasdair, we managed to put together the 1-26 and I then I had a three and one half hour flight. It is now tied down waiting to be used.
Dr Jack’s website predicted a very good day and from roll time to 6000 feet AGL, took me 14 minutes. So I knew Dr Jack was right. Being a cloudless sky made for a bit of a challenge to find the lift, but flying on the windward side of the high ground that got sun, made it an easy flight to stay up. I had 800 feet lift for half a circle numerous times, but I usually averaged 400 to 600 feet/minute. Despite the bright sun at 6,700 feet AGL, it was best to not touch the sides of the cockpit, not use the air vent, and I should have worn a long sleeve shirt. I flew to Ascutney, downtown Springfield, Gassetts, and back to Ascutney before I decided to land at 4 pm. Mark Farley was taking up CAP students in their Blanik and when he landed at 4:30, he said the day was still booming. Halfway through my flight at 5,500 feet, I noticed a glass ship about 2 miles south of the airport slightly above me drifting towards the direction of Keene, NH. They are so beautiful when the sun glistens off their wings. Other than that, the sky was my own.
