HIGHLIGHTS:
 

1. The Vintage Sailplane Regatta was a success measured by how many sailplanes showed up this year compared to last year. Paul hardly announced the event, and not much in advance, but the group was here on time and ready to fly. It didn't hurt matters when the soaring weather turned out to be excellent. Here is what Paul Hanson had to report on the event:

That was Cam Martin's LP-49, and the color blue is actually called "Laister Blue", as it was mixed in large batches for Jack Laister (the L in LP-49) who of course designed the ship and produced the kits. The slight differences between the two ships is mostly that they have free blown canopies and custom turtle decks to match the individual canopy, lending them rather different profiles if you view them side by side. More info on Cam's LP and the other ships/participants  below.

Our Saturday night activities included pizzas delivered to the field, beer and other snacks, and of course the 'Avenal Theatre' was in full swing, opening with footage from the 2007 Independence Day Regatta where a 200 ft diameter VSA logo was very accurately mowed into the field's tall grass (very impressive, you'd appreciate it. I'll send pics when I find some). Once everyone's attention was focused, we watched our 'Feature Presentation', Disney's "The Boy Who Flew With Condors", with excellent extra behind-the-scenes narration by Jeff Byard, long time Tehachapi resident and friend of Fred and Goldie Harris (the 'then' owners of Holiday Soaring so prominently featured in that Disney title, which of course led to Tehachapi's current Mountain Valley Airport where world class the glider op is now) Once that was over and discussion died down a bit, I threw in some old 29 Palms Army Air Corp WWII (color!) footage set to swinging big band greats and again expertly narrated by Jeff who has made a special study of this time and place since the he owns TG-2 that attended the regatta in 2007 which was stationed at 29 Palms and he refinished it in traditional Air Corp livery. All and all a fun filled and historically rich experience that really brought back the good ole days, even if just for a while. Looking forward to next year...

Thanks Paul, for the update and a few of the larger photos provided by Paul. Everyone out at Avenal today had a wonderful time and enjoyed the good soaring conditions most of the day. There were periods when the overdevelopment shut off some of the thermals but not all of them.

2. I got out to Avenal early and with the clouds already present as I drove along the Avenal cutoff towards the gliderport, I decided to launch early to check the strength and consistency of the thermals. It was as I suspected, strong and turbulent thermals all the way up past 5000 msl where I cancelled my flight to get back on the ground for students showing up. It proved to be a challenge for some of the early time students but all measured up to the task of hanging on in the tow and doing well off tow.

3. Morgan Hall and Julie Butler were here today and Morgan took the Orange Crush up for a flight. We had planned on getting Morgan soloed in the 1-26 so after his 2-33 flights, and before his solo, we administered the pre-solo written exam, and went up with Julie Butler. Julie is working well on her flights and although she did poorly on her first tow, her second tow was exceptional. So much so, that afterwards, Loyal remarked to me that he thought Julie was a bit dangerous on tow but Loyal was sure glad I did the second tow. Now that was a compliment he didn't intend for Julie but an honest one that Julie couldn't claim was me just trying to make her feel good about the second tow. It was indeed that good.

4. Of course, while all of our training was going on, the Vintage folks were flying their gliders constantly. They sure do light up the Avenal gliderport with their colorful paint schemes as you will notice in the photos.

5. Jeff Lowe took a flight or two in the 2-33 to keep his skill set nice and sharp. I pondered over whether to solo him in the 1-26 but up until about 3:00 pm the crosswind was too strong. I thought I'd wait until later to make that decision.

6. Now it was Morgan's turn to solo in the 1-26. After a few instructions at the launch area, he was on his way. No PIO evident in his takeoff and all looked very well. In fact, he had several flights in it, and enjoyed the new feeling of a different kind of glider from the 2-33.

7. Joe Anastasio decided to fly the Blanik and with Jeff Lowe standing by Joe took Jeff for his first ride in that sailplane. They were up long enough for both to have had a good time. Jeff actually came back smiling even though he was in the back seat and I was a bit worried about motion sickness for anyone cooped up in that narrow silver tube. But Jeff had no such indications and said he enjoyed the "heck out of it".

8. It was near the end of the afternoon when the wind finally slowed a bit and the crosswind was no longer a concern of mine. At first it seemed like it was a bit late to solo Jeff, but after being around all day and helping everyone else out, and knowing his skill level could handle the current winds, we decided to turn him loose. He had already taken the pre-solo written just in case, so he was ready to go. And go he did. No problem on takeoff and a steady hand allowed no PIO's to occur. He did fine and now has two choices of sailplane when he comes back to Avenal.

9. It turned out to be a fine day for all here at Avenal. The clouds made for great pictures and the lift was enough to keep everyone happy. Yes, it was a bit chilly but overall a wonderful day to be alive and at Avenal.