HIGHLIGHTS:
 

1. Yutaka Buto soloed today. He is an accomplished commercial pilot flying for Ameriflght out of Bakersfield. It didn't take him long to get the hang of the glider and now all he needs to do is practice, practice, practice, then study, study, study. Pretty simple, eh?

CONGRATULATIONS, YUTAKA !!!

2. Chris Karapostoles brought fellow pilot, Ted Reeves, to Avenal for a nice demo ride. Ted did well on tow, off tow, and would likely solo rather quickly if he decides to join the club and get his add-on rating. WELCOME, TED !!

3. Dave Pilati had a big lunch, then a long flight, enjoying both completely.

4. Joe Anastasio took Kim Grosse for a ride in the Blanik. Kim is from Germany and just completed her private license in power. Turns out she is the youngest girl in Germany to accomplish that feat. Congrats, Kim.

5. Kim is an exchange student, here for a year of high school. She flew over in Cory Pfau's nice Cessna, along with Al Honorat, a student at Cal Poly. Al tried a glider ride but shortly into the flight he opted to return to earth where he felt much more comfortable. At least he stayed on through 1000 feet.

6, Julie Butler decided to learn how the Blanik differs from the Schweizers so she went up with me for some aerial maneuvers. I think she's planning on flying dual with Morgan one of these Saturdays and wanted to get a jump on how to control a higher-performance glider.

7. Andy Reistetter had a nice long flight today, satisfying to him and sharpened his cross country skills.

8. Morgan Hall flew the ASW-20 into the mountains and spent the better part of the afternoon roaming northwest and southeast.

9. Daniel Solis landed out in the 1-26. I didn't see it but apparently he got into some difficulty near the IP and landing out seemed like the best option. No damage to glider or pilot except perhaps a bruised ego. We had to take the wings off to get it through the fence, but fortunately the 1-26 comes apart easier than most other gliders.

10. Jerry Badal and Mario Crosina were out today flying with the excellent thermals that lasted most of the day.

11. Bob Stroup, the epitome of a patient man, waited until nearly everyone had gone up. Finally, in late afternoon, we flew in the Blanik because it seems to be easier for him to get in and out of that compared to the 2-33.