HIGHLIGHTS:
 

1. Well, what can one say about lift at and above 1200 feet per minute? It was just a whole lot of fun all day long. Fortunately the rain didn't hit us much at all. A few brief showers but they barely dampened the runway. Then they'd leave and we go booming again in and around the weather. It was that much fun and that much lift. There were enough of us at Avenal today to enjoy the soaring and the camaraderie, including a trip to Debbie's for The World's Greatest Hamburgers.

2. Phil Decker, FA-18 Super Hornet Pilot based at Lemoore NAS, was awarded his Commercial Add-On rating by Dan Gudgel. Phil and I flew three flights early, then he and Dan began the oral portion. Worrying about the possibility of being rained out, they interrupted the oral to do the flight portion of the test, then went back for the remaining oral exam.

CONGRATULATIONS PHIL. NOW WORK ON YOUR CFIG !!

3. Jerry Badal hasn't been to Avenal since July, 2005, when he soloed. He says life has been quite busy for him over the past 30 months but now he's determined to get the license non-stop. We're glad to see him devoted to going forward for his Private License since he was an excellent pilot when he came here to solo. Now he just needs to keep after himself until the License is awarded. We'll help him do that.

4. Jerry and I flew four flights, the first and last we took the time to thermal and had a lot of fun. The first flight produced ONLY 8 knot thermals. We soared to just short of 5000 msl, then had to descend in order for Dan and Phil to use the Orange Crush for Phil's checkride. It was tough to give up that altitude because not only was the lift strong but we had not gotten even close to the lift weakening. It was 8 knots right up until we opened the dive brakes and pushed the nose down to descend. Later, after two pattern tows, he was ready to solo once again, but couldn't because he didn't have his license with him. So, we took another tow to pattern altitude, snagged a booming thermal of 1200+ feet per minute, and went back up to 4000 msl. We played around the weather for awhile, then descended so that others could use the 2-33. That's the only problem with having only one 2-33. On great days, it gets heavily scheduled.

5. Steve Schery was out here today, and took his turn flying the 1-26. He had plenty of time aloft and smiled a lot when back on the ground.

6. Jerry Smeltzer also flew the 1-26 and reported an altitude of 6200 msl, mostly restrained by the cloud base.

7. Richard Walker couldn't resist and later in the afternoon decided to fly his Schweizer 1-35. He, too, had fun with the lift and flew mostly below cloud base since the weather tended to overdevelop on a cyclic basis.

8. Richard Miller, a new member who intends to fly at Avenal until summer when he then travels to Minden or Truckee. Today, he assembled his LP-49 and although I didn't see him flying it, he might have sometime after I left. He had planned on staying at the gliderport over the weekend, and I know he flew the next day, Sunday.

9. Paul Hanson arrived Friday night and Saturday morning early was out with his weedwacker cutting down all the overgrowth around the area. As you can see from the accompanying photos, he mowed every area down to a nice level. It looks just great and it took him nearly five hours to get the job done. Thanks, Paul, for moving forward with that effort without anyone pushing you. That's the mark of a club member who believes in contributing his time and effort.

10. Late in the afternoon, the clouds kept beckoning us aloft, so giving in reluctantly, Alex Caldwell, Hanna Marlette, and I went soaring. Alex promised to sniff for us although that really wasn't necessary since one could blunder into strong lift without looking. We got off tow on the edge of some rain, and found lift enough to get us higher. We were thermaling for awhile and then spotted Alex ahead. We joined his thermal and stayed there until Alex decided to head east towards I-5. Not sure what he had in mind, we followed him and he took us all over the Kettleman Hills. Finally we decided to break away and find our own thermals. In the air at the same time was Richard Walker and after soaring for some time, we and he headed for the pattern at the same time. He turned on final for runway 31 just ahead of us, so we lingered until he was safely ahead, then we turned and landed. And with that, our soaring day ended.

11. Allen White was here today, helping out, and just visiting with friends. On his day off from towing for Tehachapi and Hollister where does he go?? To a gliderport, of course, wouldn't we do the same thing?? You betcha'.

SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 2008

1. Today, there were a few members present. Mike McClellan arrived with three friends who all wanted to go for a glider ride. Alycia probably was the best sport since she was a bit terrified of flying but went anyway. Once back on the ground she kissed the earth in gratitude for having returned her safely. Justin Maher and Brendan Ford both took their turns flying with Mike. And all had fun in the Blanik, Mike's favorite glider.

2. Rich Miller stayed overnight, then using an auto, towed down the runway to test rudder work he had been doing on his LP-49.

3. Paul Hanson flew his SZD 59 for three hours using mostly ridge lift.

4. Roy Norman and Rich Miller flew the Orange Crush and had what they reported as being a "decent flight".

5. It sure was a more beautiful day, Sunday, but apparently the lift wasn't quite as good as Saturday. And the cloud markers weren't as prevalent as the day before, but any day at Avenal is a good day.

6. Paul Hanson and Rich Miller, as good members, went out and fixed our wind sock that had been damaged earlier from high winds. Thanks, guys.