1. Peggy Harbick decided to give hubby, John, a birthday gift of a glider flight. This was the weekend and both Peggy and John, Peggy's parents, John and Van Reynolds arriving for the day. John was first aloft and afterwards said he was "hooked". He and Alex Caldwell had a great flight of nearly an hour, gaining altitude almost at will. Apparently John was at the controls much of the flight and it seems he is headed for a license in gliders. We hope so and wish him well if he does make that decision. He'd make a great club member.

2. Peggy's Dad, John Reynolds, was next and he, too, enjoyed a nice long demo flight. I doubt John Reynolds will take up soaring as a hobby but one never knows. It might be fun for both of them to do it together.

3. Bart Klusek had an interesting first flight, taking off on runway 31, staying low, and finally releasing and landing in the field just to the northwest of the airport. Seems the dive brakes were open on takeoff and prevented a rapid climb to an altitude from which he could either return to the gliderport or continue on soaring. We towed the glider back through the soft dirt, through a very NARROW fence gate, and back onto the field. Never one to quit, Bart immediately launched again and had a great second flight. I'm sure Bart will keep this landout in mind each and every time he launches in the future.

4. Morgan Hall and Julie Butler assembled the Duo Discus and launched on a multi-hour flight up and down the Temblor Range just to the west of the gliderport. Here is their summary:

We had a 4.5 hour or so flight. After a late start, we were able to get up to about 8K over Black Mountain and head west to the convergence. There were some nice cloud markers down California Valley which we followed all the way to Mt. Pinos. I hooked a thermal at the south end of CA Valley and took us up to 12,600.
We connected with Ramy who was on his way back from Mojave and flew with him back up the valley with a much harder time getting above 7K. Once we got back to 41/46 split Morgan got us back up to 8K or so in a thermal and we went back to Black Mountain for a little bit. Everything was shutting down over the mountains by then. We didn't find much out over the valley, so came back in to land and realized neither the Blanik nor the Orange Crush were on the ground. We finally spotted Pancho and Bart and flew back up to take some video of them. Morgan will have that available at some point. Pancho was looking pretty happy about his 2+ hour flight! Pretty awesome. It's too bad not more people came out. It was a really awesome day to get up high and stay up for a long time.   Julie

5. Pancho Herrera flew the Orange Crush for a nice long flight that just might have been his highest and longest to date. He's coming along nicely and will be taking his checkride this summer.

7. We finally got the tail feathers of Big Bird finished, having been recovered and painted. Now that glider is available and we're back to two Schweizers.

8 It was another very warm day with the density altitude reaching 3500 feet.

9. Thanks to Harlow Voorhees for his continued assistance as our busiest tow pilot.

10. The next day, Alex Caldwell had a LONG flight in the 2-33. Here is his story: I flew on Sunday in the Orange Crush for a butt crunching 6 hour flight. Ramy Yanetz had landed at Avenal on Saturday, and spent the night at the clubhouse after a very long flight from Hollister to Mojave and back.   Morgan arranged with Peter Mersino to tow him on Sunday so he could get back to Hollister (of course he went way south again from Avenal before going back to Hollister).  I decided to come out and take advantage of Peter being available to tow.  The RASP was predicting an even better day than Saturday (which was a good day), with a convergence line marked by cu's and altitudes of 10,000 ft near Avenal and 12,000+ to the south.   I had my flight recorder working this time and got 27th for the day in the U.S in the OLC. Not too bad for a 2-33.  Of course, the OLC classic rewards physical endurance and staying up as long as humanly possible, while making some kind of progress over the ground over everything else. Speed is really kind of secondary.  With the handicap, you can do well in any glider, as long as you can stand to stay up that long. We took off at 12:30.  There was a good convergence line that was displaying cu's before noon. But I never could connect to the clouds with the 2-33,  as they were way west of Avenal, over the ridge west of Parkfield by the time I got up. I wasted a lot of time at the beginning of the flight trying to get up on top of Black Mtn. thinking I might be able to get to the clouds. But later I found that I could make more distance because of a better altitude AGL, by staying over the valley along hwy 33 and was getting quite high, even though it was blue.  I got to just over 10,000ft over the Darcy Strip area at the high point.   My OLC strategy was to make as many "Yo-Yo" legs to the N and S as I could, centered on the house thermal over the Tank and Barn near Avenal. As the conditions got better, I went N. to Coalinga and S. to 33/41 two different times. As the lift got weaker near the end of the day, I made the legs shorter to make sure I got back to Avenal. With the glide computer, I could stretch the legs further than I would if I was just using my Mark I eyeballs, but still have a generous safety margin to get back to the field with certainty. 

The flight trace is here if anybody is interested:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=1311682    more info

1. Contest results can be found by clicking here. The team of Ginny Farnsworth and Rick Indrebo won the overall contest. Peter Deane, a perennial high finisher in our past annual contests, placed second. And Dave Greenhill placed third. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE COMPETITORS WHO TOOK PART AND WE HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR. THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION.

2. It truly was a great week. The soaring was excellent every day of the contest and everyone enjoyed the competition. It's nice when the gliders all get high and the thermals are strong each day. It was indeed one of those Chamber of Commerce days for the Avenal Contest. Let's hope that next year is even better.

3. I don't have a lot to report about the contest since I didn't cover it in detail. I was busy with demo rides and instructional flights for Friday and Saturday. I didn't participate in Sunday's contest day but it went well for all. For more detail see the contest results.

4. George Powell, once an active member of our club, came out on Saturday and we flew together for the first time in a few years. When George was active, he had earned his commercial glider rating add-on and did well enough to earn his Bronze Badge. But other priorities and a more comfortable life in Baja California, Mexico, took him away from the soaring scene. He still spends most of the year in Baja and so his great flight today may not be enough to bring him back to soaring in a more active sense. But one never knows. Our flight lasted about one and a half hours, and topped 6200 msl. He agreed it was surely worth the effort to revisit Avenal again. And each time we snagged an 8 knot thermal, I could tell he was smiling as we gained altitude in a hurry.

5. My next flight was with Peter Sahlberg. Peter wasn't sure that there would be any lift since we were going to launch after 6:00 pm. But he didn't remember the Avenal effect and how the lift actually gets better in late afternoon and early evening. Sure enough, we snagged strong thermals and ultimately reached over 6200 msl nearly an hour after George and I reached the same height. In fact the only reason we came down is that my butt was getting sore and the dinner was getting cold. If we hadn't come down then we would have missed a nice barbeque dinner, where the main course was steak prepared deliciously by Pancho Herrera.

6. Without getting into details, the pilots of this year's contest were an exceptional group of great men and women. We enjoyed them all each evening after the day's task had been completed. Those are some of the best times one could spend with a fellow pilot after the tough competition ends. We really enjoy having our annual contest just because it brings out the best in glider pilots from all over the Western U.S. Maybe next year we'll have even more than this year. Thanks to everyone who made this Annual Contest such an enjoyable time for all. The camaraderie was overwhelming.  more info

1. CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRIS KARAPOSTOLES. He earned his Commercial Glider Rating today. For him that makes so many different aircraft and helicopter ratings that the FAA is probably going to have to issue him two separate plastic licenses just to list all the ratings he's amassed in his short flying career. Darn good pilot, too.

2. It was one of those unusual days when the soaring was excellent all up and down the Temblor range but few pilots showed up. Not sure why. They certainly would have enjoyed the soaring up in the cool air and probably higher than they are used to flying. Maybe they'll start coming out in the ensuing weekends. Hope so.

3. Mario and Bart were out today, both flying in the mountains and getting lift everywhere. Too bad they weren't joined by more club members. Steve Schery towed, then had time to fly his Discus.

4. Jeff Lowe also had a great flight, long and high and he was all smiles when he returned. Jerry Badal came out late in the day and hesitated about launching so late. But we convinced him and up he went in the 1-26. Yes, he had a great flight, too, and anyone who flew today had fun for hours.

5. Julie and Morgan assembled the Duo Discus and headed for the mountains. As usual they were still aloft when I left for home. Waiting for them is a long affair. They always seem to find lift, even where one would expect none to be found. But today, like others, they had no trouble remaining aloft for whatever time they chose. See the photos they took from the cockpit of the Duo Discus.  more info

1. Although not as many folks showed up as we would have liked, those who did attend had a great time, and good food. There were a few club members who donated their time and money. Julie Butler headed up the day, organizing the effort and putting in a lot of time to make everything enjoyable for the members who attended. Thanks Julie.

2. As you can see from the photos, there were quite a few sailplanes aloft including our regular members and a surprise visit by Al Leffler, a long time member of our club and one of the airport stockholders. Nice to see Al here again and he had a really good flight, up mostly between 8500 and 9000 msl.

3. The Snyder Family arrived about noon, set up a picnic table and celebrated John Snyder's birthday with a gift glider ride from his wife, Julie. John's father and mother were on hand, Jim and Mabel, as well as Julie's dad, Charles Meyer. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves on our patio and watching the glider operations. Unfortunately John's ride wasn't quite as long as I had hoped. The fickle nature of soaring weather made its presence known today. About an hour after John and I went up, another ride in the 2-33 produced about an hour flight. It's frustrating but something over which we have very little control.

4. James Beckman did very well during his training flights today. He managed to snag a whole series of good thermals, most of which were 4 knots and above. He's getting near to solo flight and I suspect it may come within the next two weekends. He's progressing nicely.

5. Chris Karapostoles is practicing for his upcoming checkride, now scheduled for May 8 in the morning. He's a talented young man who flies for the U.S. Navy, having recently returned from combat flying in Afghanistan. I know Chris will do well on his testing.

6. Just a note to all of you who couldn't make it to Avenal today. The steak, prepared and cooked by Pancho Herrera was absolutely delicious. I think I could have consumed much of what he cooked but I graciously allowed others to partake of that juicy, mouth-watering, repast.

7. Andrea Mersino put on a show for us this evening. She commandeered a pogo stick and did quite well, staying on, and going airborne each time, as you can see in the photo.

8. Paul Hanson brought his good friend, Juhani Smith, out to Avenal today. Later on they both went aloft in the Blanik for a nice flight to the mountains.

9. Lest you think that Pancho Herrera was just the chef for today, he flew the 2-33 solo and had one of his better flights, snagging and remaining in some pretty good thermals. Nice going, Pancho, and thanks for that great steak.

10. Alex Caldwell and I flew three flights early this morning for my Biennial Flight Review, a necessary two-year ritual that is required even of Flight Instructors who are teaching all year long. more info

Julie Butler says:  Club Day

Come out and bring some friends for a day of great flying. The weather has been beautiful and the days are getting longer. We will have a 50/50 drawing. Tickets are $1; $5 will get you 6 tickets. Half of the pot goes into the club coffers for expenses and the other half is cash to the winner. Drawing will happen at dinner and you do not need to be present to win. Demo flights will be available all day to introduce people to our sport. We will be having a spot landing contest running all day with the winner announced at dinner. There will be a BBQ dinner for $10 to conclude the day. Food will be ready around 5:30PM so please RSVP by April 28th with the number of guests so we can be sure to have enough food.

1. It was a busy day because the FAA is launching a nationwide program to inspect Experimental aircraft and the associated paperwork. We were pleased to have John Jensen and Bjorn Beijens out today looking at all the experimental gliders domiciled on the airport. As one looked around, it seemed like either we were having a parade of gliders or the weather was so fantastic that everyone showed up to fly. Neither of those was true, but since the gliders needed to be assembled for the FAA inspection, most of the pilots elected to fly. The day wasn't fantastic but those who wanted to remain aloft and tour the mountains were able to do so.

2. Alex Caldwell and the Boy Scouts were out again today. Alex started the day by auto launching, being pulled by the Scout Leader, Dr. Robert Bell, in his Suburban. It worked reasonably well with altitudes around the 400 agl mark. The boys seemed happy with the chance to take at least three flights each and were on the field most of the day. We are happy to have them as part of our group and hope to see them back again soon. Here's what Alex had to say:

Hi Harold,  Here are some pictures of the Scouts that went flying on Saturday. They are from Troop 235 in Tulare. This same troop has been coming almost every year since about 1983 when we were still flying at Sequoia Field in Visalia.   The first picture is Dr. Robert Bell, the Scout leader. He is an oral surgeon from Tulare. He is an ideal auto tow driver, since one of his favorite hobbies is drag racing, and some of the skill set needed for driving the auto tow vehicle seems to carry over from his drag racing skills.   He has a car he calls the "Grey Ghost" and he says he might let us try auto towing behind it one of these days. The boys had a great time. We did 10 auto tows. Most of them got 2 auto tows and each got one aero tow. Since we were able to fly in the afternoon, they all got to catch at least one thermal. Some of them have been back several times since they have been in the scouts, and have actually become pretty good at flying by now. Scott who is actually not in the scout troop officially yet, because he is only 10, is bugging his dad to let him join the club and start taking soaring lessons.    Alex

3. John Vander Schuur shocked us all by returning to Avenal for the first time in over five years. Jon soloed on July 20, 2002, then earned his Private Pilot's license on March 6, 2004. He last flew on January 29, 2005 then disappeared until today. We're happy to have him back and this time he brought his 13 yr old daughter, Kayla, along for her first glider ride. She seems really interested in learning to fly gliders and might just be the next young person to learn and solo a glider on her 14th birthday. Let's hope she keeps the dream alive and that any budget considerations are met with no difficulty.

4. Morgan Hall conducted a CCSC Board meeting covering some issues of great concern for the club. Remember that, as a CCSC member, you are encouraged to attend these Board meetings to keep in touch with what's going on in the club. For the items covered, contact Morgan or any other Board member.

5. Dan Gudgel was out here today checking out Mel Council as one of our new and valued tow pilots. Mel will have more time available than some of our other volunteers, especially when school ends in June and he has the summer off. Mel will definitely make a difference in tow pilot dependability for more than just Saturday and Sunday.

6. Joe Anastasio opted for his first ride in the Duo Discus. Morgan invited Joe and it didn't take long for Joe to accept. (A millisecond?). They had a nice long flight throughout the mountains and for a period about 3 hours plus. I hope Joe isn't spoiled because of that. I think he still likes the Blanik for his own flying.

7. I finally flew GD. more info

1. I wasn't sure a safety meeting was necessary based on the overall safety record here at Avenal. So when Morgan and Harlow suggested we have one I was not entirely convinced. But after hearing all the great input from the participants and the suggestions for safer operation, I now know that the meeting was valuable and timely and cleared the air on numerous issues on which there had been confusion developing over the years and among newer members. Thanks Morgan and Harlow for a valuable seminar. BTW, Julie Butler videotaped the seminar and will be making it available to our members who were unable to make it here this morning. Look for her announcement soon.

2. Bart Klusek went up early in the Blanik, caught some good strong thermals, and remained aloft for just over an hour. He was our good sniffer and all those who followed found lift fairly quickly.

3. Darren Council arrived with his Dad, Mel. After the safety meeting, we took the Orange Crush and headed aloft. The first flight was mostly maneuvers and he did very well on those. The second flight was exceptional. He had no real experience in thermaling but with just a little demonstration and some talking during his efforts, he thermalled very well, gaining altogether 2400 feet of altitude and we were aloft just about 45 minutes. That was quite a nice accomplishment for a student with only 7 flights in his logbook. And we gained rapidly, getting up to 4750 quickly. So we decided to abandon that thermal and do some sightseeing, heading to the mountains near Tar Canyon and giving Darren some time to enjoy the altitude he earned for himself.

4. Pancho Herrera had the Orange Crush after Darren and took advantage of the beautiful day to launch twice. The first flight was his initial unsupervised solo after first soloing two weeks ago and the highest solo tow ever. The first flight found him a bit rusty on tow, but the second not only smoothed out the towing but he gained a few hundred feet of altitude and was quite proud of his accomplishment, as he deserved to be.

5. James Beckman arrived here with Morgan and Julie prepared to follow on from his previous excellent flights. Last time out James "got" the tow and he was hoping that today, he hadn't lost it since then. The first flight might have discouraged another, but James was determined to regain that "key" to towing well. The second flight was his usually good skill at towing and from then on, he simply knew for sure that he had it down pat. On the third flight after a few necessary maneuvers, James snagged a good thermal and that was the beginning of a flight nearly one hour long. He really learned more during that process than in any other way. He had to "wear" the glider like a glove, feeling its inputs, reacting appropriately, and holding his controls steady and sure. He did all that and more, thermaling for nearly an hour under difficult conditions. He was "scratching", as we say, meaning that none of the lift he was using came easily. He really enjoyed the challenge and the learning process. He may very well solo within the next 2 or 3 flights.

6. We had a good turnout of the high performance glider pilots. Mario Crosina, Rich Miller, Steve Schery, Andy Reistetter, Dave Pilati, Morgan Hall, Julie Butler, and Bruce Patton. Most of them worked their way around the mountain including Black Mountain and Castle Peak. Some went down towards Paramount Farms and others went north of Coalinga. All had good flights with some as long as 4.5 hours. Altitudes were in the 5000 msl range.

7. Remember that this time of year is excellent soaring weather. Even though the predictions sometimes don't get it right, they are correct more often than not. Use Alex Caldwell's RASP forecast since it is the most accurate for the mountains north and south of Avenal. Don't miss out on the wonderful soaring weather we have here in Avenal. We also have great club members who enjoy the camaraderie of visiting everywhere on the gliderport, but especially on the patio. See you next time. more info

1. It might have been good up in the wave, but the strong and gusty winds on the ground made the tow pilots a bit skeptical about towing. So they chose not to. Probably a good decision but disappointing to those who would have had fun up there.

2. A lot of visiting and camaraderie went on during the day while most hunkered down inside the clubhouse to avoid the wind chill factor. With gusts to 21 knots and the temp initially in the low 50's, it was a very cold morning. The wind subsided as the day wore on but never stopped entirely. At least in the afternoon most of us got out of the clubhouse and began doing some outside work. Meanwhile, the guys who depend on the water heater and those who sympathize with them got to work on determining what went wrong with the water heater. They finally fixed it and we have Rich Miller, Bark Klusek, Joe Anastasio, and Steve Schery to thank for making hot water again.

3. Morgan went to work as soon as the wind slowed a bit, and using his weed whacker, trimmed all the high grass around the clubhouse area. Thanks, Morgan.

4. Richard Walker's family showed up thinking they were going to go for a glider ride today. I hope they didn't drive all the way down from Merced but if they did, ... ouch. I hope they try again when the weather is less windy and more liftable ( is that a word? My spell check doesn't think so .. neither does Merriam-Webster).

5. On Saturday, April 17, at 10:00 am, we're having a Safety Seminar put on by the FAA represented by Harlow Voorhees, our club member. It should be of interest to all our pilots so if you can arrange your schedule to be here, it will be worth your effort. Harlow is an exceptionally good public speaker and you'll enjoy his presentation and usually good anecdotes. more info

1. He made sure he was focused enough to get the job done in a short time. From the time he showed up at Avenal and began training until solo today the interval was remarkably short. Pancho Herrera definitely was a determined pilot. Although it was a choppy tow day, he managed to hang in there, keep it in line, and earned the solo release. CONGRATULATIONS, PANCHO !!

2. Chris Karapostoles was back again, finally, from combat flying in Afghanistan. He earned combat ribbons with several hundred flights over the fighting there. Nice going, Chris, and we're glad to have you back in one piece. Now for the hard part ... getting your glider add-on rating. That should make your tour of Afghanistan look like a child's sleepover night.

3. Austin Coovert brought another Lemoore pilot out to Avenal to introduce him to the joys of flying gliders. Tyler Moore and Austin are from the same squadron and we hope Austin keeps on bringing his fellow pilots out to Avenal until the entire squadron has been here and signed up. That includes the Squadron Commander and Exec. That may be a bit harder to accomplish but who knows how convincing Austin can be. So far, two out of two, and he's going for more.

4. Some of the fiberglass/aluminum racers went aloft. Most stayed up for several hours, near cloud base at 5000 msl. It wasn't exactly a Chamber of Commerce day at Avenal for soaring but those pilots made a day of it. Mario, Rich Miller, and Dave Pilati salvaged a nice afternoon out of a grey day.

5. It sure was nice to see Sherri Demsky again. More recent members might not remember that Sherri and husband, Jon, used to cook for us every Saturday on the patio. The lunches were delicious, and often were good enough to qualify for a restaurant dinner, except for the white table cloths. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have many of those lunches really miss that treat every time we note these Saturdays without them.

6. Morgan Hall was up a Minden, NV this week learning how to fly in the Sierra Wave. He managed a flight to 25,800 msl on one day. Here's his story:

 more info

1. It was indeed a busy day for glider activity. We had visitors from all quadrants including three first-time glider riders, two Navy Hornet pilots from NAS Lemoore, Juhani Smith from the Bay area, two from the SLO area, and our regular members we can always count on to be there.

2. Ruth Cowell bought husband, Warren, a glider ride for a Christmas present and Warren decided that today was the right time to go aloft. It wasn't a really good day for soaring so I hope that Warren and Ruth will come back in a few weeks to experience the very strong thermals we usually get this time of year.

3. Paul Hanson brought his friend Juhani Smith down from the Bay area, and while Juhani worked on his laptop, Paul went through his BFR with Alex Caldwell. Juhani indicated a desire to learn to fly gliders and we hope he gets the chance and makes Avenal his home base.

4. The two pilots from Lemoore NAS came to Avenal so that Austin Coovert could get checked out in our gliders. He's already an accomplished glider pilot and after a checkout with Alex, he then took Ryan Davidson for a glider ride. These two gentlemen belong to VF-192, which just happens to be quite an honor to be invited to join that squadron. Both fly the legacy Hornet and both agree they wouldn't have it any other way. Congratulations  guys.

5. Flying took a turn of excitement when Bruce McJunkin went aloft for a checkride maneuver flight. We drifted downwind a bit too far and were unable to make it back to the field. So Bruce calmly landed in the plowed field just to the northwest of our gliderport with no ill effects on aircraft or occupants. We were able to move it through the gate at the corner of the field with the help of both passersby and crew from the clubhouse. No harm, no foul. In fact, it is good that a student experiences a landout early in his flying career just to get over the anxiety always with you if you've never landed out.

6. Pancho Herrera continued his progress towards solo and I expect that he will solo within the next 2 or 3 flights, probably happening next Saturday.

7. Jack Cashion, Jr. and Terry Easley arrived to go for their first glider rides. Jack has been talking with me for some months now about experiencing being aloft in a glider. Most of that conversation took place over games of pool for which Jack is a superb player, of the caliber of Fast Eddy Felsen. He claims not to be a hustler, but after playing him, I'm not so sure of his denials. Jack and Terry got to see at least small amounts of lift and we hope they visit again when the thermals get hot and high. Today was unusually cool for this time of year so the thermals weren't all that great.

8. We've added a new instrument to the patio near the temperature gauge. It is a standard temp gauge that has been overlaid with density altitude information for our pilots. It is calculated specifically for Avenal, using a pressure altitude of 29.92 and a standard temperature based on the field elevation of 780 msl. If the pressure altitude is different from what I used to calculate the density altitude, then just make the necessary adjustment which is likely to be rather small by comparison to any temperature differential. By all means, check the density altitude before you go flying to determine how your aircraft will behave under those conditions. It is especially important for the tow plane pilots to check and remember the density altitude as the summer heat sets in. It wouldn't surprise me to see the density altitude exceed 4000 feet in the middle of the summer.

9. On Sunday, we had three sailplane pilots take tows and remained aloft for hours. Mario Crosina, Rich Miller, and Paul Hanson all flew. The heights weren't great but they did get to 5000 msl. Peter Mersino and I flew to Avenal in the Dakota and made four tows. Then headed home. more info

1. It turned out to be a very busy day, although the on-line scheduler showed just a few flights reserved. By time I got there, the Boy Scouts had already been there and were beginning to fly in the 2-33. They were trying to do an auto launch but the rope broke on the first attempt of the day and that closed out any chance to continue that way. They did keep on flying most of the day in between scheduled flights shown on the on-line scheduler. Alex Caldwell is the organizer of these Scout outings each year and does a huge favor to the boys for not only flying each of them, but also for seeking ways to keep the costs down for each tow.

2. Peter Sahlberg is nearing his checkride and needed a review of his progress in preparing for the ride. We went up twice and noted areas of improvement, none of which were ride busters. Peter worked harder than anyone the rest of the day in charge of the launch line, chasing ropes, hooking up gliders, directing traffic on a very busy day. Near the end of the day, Peter got his well-deserved ride in the Duo Discus. After that he again took the Orange Crush aloft for more practice. Thanks for all that launch line work you performed, Peter. Everyone out there was grateful for your input.

3. It was a busy day overall with more than 30 people present on the field during the day. It was great to see such a nice turnout of members and guests. And we had a goodly number of guests. Just ask Morgan who flew and flew and flew what must have seemed like everyone in the Central Valley that showed up for a demo ride in the Duo Discus.

4. Darren Council flew three training flights and gained skill on each flight. He took more of the tow each time and he will be a solo pilot sooner than even he realizes. At 14 years young, he'll join the ranks of others who soloed in their 14th year and go on to get their license and who knows after that. Two of ours are currently at the Air Force Academy after following a similar path. Keep up the good work, Darren. We're all proud of you.

5. Dad, Mel Council, flew two flights with Alex Caldwell in the Orange Crush in order to begin his application as a CCSC tow pilot. Alex reports that Mel did the entire tow unassisted and that was amazing because so few people actually get the idea of the tow on the first flight. We look forward to having Mel and son in our club. Mel is a very well rounded individual, holding a Flight Instructor license in power, an A&P rating, and a Teaching Certificate. He'll be most helpful as we grow our club and look to Mel and others for direction and good input.

6. Dave Pilati, Andy Reistetter, and Steve Schery all flew their fiberglass sailplanes today, keeping the tow planes busy.

7. Jeff Lowe is also nearing his checkride and flew the 1-26 twice with tows up to 4800 msl. On the second flight he did find some reasonable lift and had more fun than the first flight.

8. Joe Anastasio and Bart Klusek flew together in the Blanik, twice, and managed to remain in weak lift for a nice duration flight.

9. Julie Butler flew the 1-26 and continues to keep sharp in anticipation of taking delivery of her DG100 sometime next month. That should be fun for her. Maybe she'll paint the glider with flowers, or at the least a few nice appliqués for effect.

10. Jerry Badal and Mario Crosina were on hand, just helping everyone on the launch or assembly line, but neither flying their own sailplanes.

11. Scott Naumann arrived in his Cessna 180, flew with Morgan, then in the 1-26, and finally left for home in late afternoon.

12. By all accounts the day belonged to Morgan Hall. I think he flew everyone he could in the Duo Discus, and encouraged others to come out for demo rides. His friends from the Coast contributed to the nice crowd at Avenal today. But Morgan earned applause with his continuing performance in the Discus, hoping out only once for a Nature call. Here is his report:

"If you've ever wondered what a day in the life of an Instructor might be like, I hope I can add some insight.  On Saturday March 20th, I invited a number of friends out for a demo flight in the Duo Discus.  These were all "hot prospects" for joining us as members and I hoped a chance to experience soaring in the Duo might set the hook.

13. Buzz Graves, based out of Hollister, arrived in his DG 800, a motor glider, after a long flight down the Temblor Range. After refueling, Buzz took off and headed back to Hollister where he would likely land in late afternoon.

14. Our tow pilots did a wonderful job keeping gliders in the air. Between them, 32 tows is a busy day.  Harlow had 13 and Allen White had 19. We might have had another 3 or 4 except that some folks had to go home before they were able to fly. That's how busy we were all day long.

15. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR MAKING TODAY A RICH EXPERIENCE AT AVENAL, ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR. more info

1. Morgan's Report:

"We had a good showing at Avenal yesterday with 9 gliders staged at one point. Mario, Steve, Rich, Bruce, James/Harold in the 2-33, Morgan and Julie in the Duo, Alex and Evgeny (new club member from Russia) in the Blanik and Andy flying the 1-26. It was great to see all of the club gliders off their tie-downs.
Winds were strong out of the north when Julie and I launched around 2:00. If you look at our OLC trace, you'll see the crazy drift we had in the first thermal with winds clocking at about 23mph out of the North. Despite the winds there were thermals in the valley that could be worked. With the wind direction and strength where it was, there was no doubt that the mountains would be supporting ridge lift and I took us up into the mountains. Bruce was already playing in the ridge lift at Black by the time we joined him. A good thermal with 10knot spikes took Julie and I over 6000 and I decided to push NW and see what we could find deep in the mountains, I'd hoped that we might be able to find a little wave on the backside of the San Benito range. No luck, if there was any it wasn't within our reach. The winds were lighter up in the mountains, but by staying over the ridge top we could make good progress and didn't bother turning for the next 6 miles or so. We took a few turns in weak lift as we got to about 25 miles out from Avenal. I used the lookout as a turn point as we just weren't getting very high and all the nice landout options were a long way away and into a headwind. The run back to Black was a bit more exciting with a stretch of sink that put us lower than either of us would have preferred. A good thermal got us back up and with that we dove back into Black for a little ridge running underneath Rich and Steve.
Mario joined us after Steve and Rich headed out to the valley and we chased Mario around for a while trying to capture some decent pictures or video. Ultra wide angle is great, but it makes everyone seem really, really far away. We ended the day with a glide up to Coalinga and then a long final glide back to Avenal landing just about 5:00pm.
I gave Rich and Mario a quick training session on how to use the tractor. I did some more mowing and then we put the tractor away and Mario lit the brush pile at the clubhouse.
Today (Sunday) may not hold quite as high of lift as yesterday, but the winds appear to be lighter. The field is in great shape and the tow plane runway will be closer to mowed if Rich spends some time this morning on it. There is probably still time to get on the schedule if you're inclined. Scott Naumann is working with Dan on his towing checkout today so there are tows available.

Here is some video from yesterday:
Watch

OLC Trace:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=1129468

2. Morgan is right, is it great to see the lineup of gliders waiting to launch. Starting to get back to the good old days when we had 20-30 club members on a Saturday at Avenal all taking their turns aloft. For everyone, this is really the beginnings of great soaring at Avenal this year. So come on out and go aloft and enjoy the green hills, yellow flowers, and clear blue sky.

3. Evgeny Prudkov soloed today after some instruction from Alex Caldwell. Evgeny has a lot of experience, especially in Russia, so the flights were more to establish for Alex the level of skill Evgeny has amassed. That was enough for Alex to feel comfortable letting him go alone and he did quite well, staying up, and thermaling just south of the field. CONGRATULATIONS, EVGENY!!

4. James Beckman flew twice today, taking much of the tow, and reviewing flight off tow. In addition, we practiced stall recovery and began to emphasize the pattern work in anticipation of his forthcoming solo. James will make an excellent pilot and I am anxious to see him go aloft solo.

5. Dave Johnson arrived in his Decathlon and observed the busy gliderport from the patio and from the launch area. Thanks for your help, Dave.

6. Andy Reistetter flew the 1-26 instead of assembling his sailplane. It is easier, sometimes more fun, and more forgiving. One can really relax in that wonderful little sailplane and enjoy the sights while it rises in thermals.

7. It's likely that some or all of the fiberglass sailplanes will fly again on Sunday since we now have Dave Pilati managing the tow pilot sign-up sheet making sure that tows are available at least on Sunday, and sometimes on Friday and Monday as well.

8. Frank Rheinisch and son, Erik were on hand to take a demo ride for the first time. I guess Frank had done some earlier soaring up at Fremont in the Bay area but that was many moons ago. He really enjoyed the flight with Alex flying the Blanik and we may see more of him and Erik in the future. Erik flew with me and did very well off tow, flying most of the flight and getting us into a few thermals. Erik "could go all the way" and get his license. We look forward to both of them returning to Avenal in the not-too-distant future. more info

1. We had two groups of visitors today. Evgeny came from his training at Byron where he was working on his solo signoff. He came to Avenal because we have a safer place in which to solo since we don't use radios and Evgeny has a hard time speaking clear English. He took one flight with me and one with Alex Caldwell. He flies well and could likely be signed off in the next one or two flights. He told me he already has a license for gliders achieved in Russia, flying the Blanik. We may see more of him in the future.

2. Frank Rheinisch and son, Erik, visited Avenal and both took demo rides. It looked like they were enjoying the time aloft and maybe they'll join the club and begin pilot training. Erik did very well off tow, flew most of the flight, and I was able to talk him down for a landing. He should pursue his pilot training.

3. Julie Butler will soon take delivery of her new sailplane, a DG100. It looks like it will be ready at the end of March and she'll be heading to Williams Soaring to pick it up. In the meantime, she wisely chose to get some spin training with me in the Blanik, something that should be a necessity for all glider pilots at some point in their flying careers. It doesn't take a lot of time, and the lessons to be learned are important. We all thermal at slow speeds and could inadvertently cause a spin to occur. Getting out of a spin is not a difficult maneuver as long as you know what to do and how to do it. If you're wondering how scary it is to spin, schedule a ride and find out that your fears are unfounded. Being in control of your own flight regardless of attitude is the most important lesson to be learned.

4. Rich Miller flew his LP49 today, and based on the excellent forecast for tomorrow, he will likely fly again on Sunday. He's really a dedicated glider pilot often spending entire weekends at Avenal soaring every day, assuming, of course, that he can find someone to come out and tow for him. Any volunteers?

5. Morgan and Harlow were at Avenal today but didn't fly. Instead, they worked on getting Big Bird ready for a trailer ride to Fresno for its annual inspection. We are also still struggling to repair the wing tip wheel that broke off when the Chicago folks were loading it on the trailer. The steel stub is still inside the wing and doesn't seem to want to come out no matter what we do. We've got to get it fixed soon because the great soaring season is now starting.

6. Andy Reistetter was scheduled for Big Bird but didn't realize it had a tip wheel problem. Instead, Andy took our 1-26 aloft and did some sniffing for us. The lift wasn't great and the scattered clouds were at about 2700 msl, not exactly a great soaring day early on. It got better in late afternoon. more info

1. No big turnout today but those who came enjoyed the nice weather and the challenge of finding thermals amidst the chilly air and sometimes overdeveloped conditions. The Hills east and the valley east of I-5 were working better than the mountains west. So, most of the thermal activity took place there and was chased by our club members who came to fly.

2. CONGRATULATIONS TO MEL AND DARREN COUNCIL. These two young men (father and son) joined the club today and first up to learn to fly gliders was Darren. He took two flights and maybe the most surprising thing about them was the landing. The first was so smooth I'm sure those on the ground didn't suspect that Darren made it unassisted. He did, and to prove it wasn't a fluke, he did it again on his second instructional flight. Darren is 14 and it just goes to show once again how skilled young people can be even at so early an age. I foresee Darren's solo flights soon, especially if he continues to fly regularly at Avenal. Then no telling how far he'll progress. We recall another club member many years ago who soloed at an early age then went on to achieve great things in soaring.

3. Brian Riffel, working at Memley Aviation at the Fresno Chandler airport had, for months, been threatening to come out to fly gliders. Somehow it never seemed to be the right time ... until today. He finally made it out, flew two flights, and handled them amazingly well. Granted, he's a power pilot, but even so, he managed to fly the tow by himself and that feat hasn't been matched by very many first time glider fliers. Perhaps we'll see more of Brian on future weekends. On the other hand, maybe he won't be returning because almost as soon as he got there, we had him cutting tall grass out on the runway. He did well but it took him about an hour because of how high the grass was growing in certain spots along the runway. Ah, but the exertion was good for him, keeps him healthy, and his muscles toned.

4. Morgan Hall and Julie Butler hauled the Duo Discus out here today and got an early start. They launched, headed to the Kettleman Hills to the east, and managed to stay aloft for 2.7 hours. The flight was not without some moments, however. At one point, near the new Coalinga airport, they were scratching for lift at not much more than 1000 agl. Somehow magically, a thermal appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and lifted them back to 4000 msl. Sometimes being patient, circling in weak lift at 50 fpm, is rewarded with a cycling thermal that produces enough lift to continue on course or make your way back to the gliderport. They made it back and enjoyed the experience. Morgan agreed it was probably the closest he has come to landing out.

5. Richard Walker was on hand, and launched his Schweizer 1-35 sometime after the Discus. He also headed for the Kettleman Hills and worked the cumulus over there for quite awhile.

6. Dave Johnson arrived in his Decathlon and although he didn't fly a glider, he joined in the social gathering on the patio, and went with the group for lunch at Debbie's in Avenal.

7. As usual we had two fine tow pilots on hand for the day. Allen White flew the Cherokee 235 while Steve Schery flew the Cessna 150. It wasn't a very busy towing day but they stayed on post until the end of the day. Thanks, guys!!

8. We continue to seek contributors toward our purchase of a more powerful tow plane. Anyone wanting to help out here with a loan to the club would be highly welcomed. We need a few more members willing to invest in the proposed tow plane to make it happen. If you are interested, contact Morgan Hall by email to morhall@soaravenal.com.    more info

1. The really big news is that we now have a tow plane that can tow any of our gliders at full gross weight. Thanks to Quest Richlife, owner of Hollister Gliding Club, who made this plane available to us. Thanks also to Allen White who generously switched his day at Hollister to be with us at Avenal towing in the Piper Cherokee 235. Without their agreement and logistics, we'd still be looking for a tow plane for dual flights. It was great towing behind the 235 with its power and climb capability. In no time at all we were at 3800 msl and the tow plane was on its way back down for another tow. Between the two tow planes, I believe we did more than 20 tows for the day.

2. It was indeed a gorgeous day for soaring. And the grass covering the hills and pastures was as green as it gets. On this day, Ireland couldn't have done any better. The sun shone, the cumulus were forming everywhere, and although the lift wasn't strong, and the heights not very high, Morgan Hall and Pancho Herrera managed to remain aloft for 3.3 hours. Yes, they were in the Duo Discus, and yes, that's one heckuva sailplane, especially in weak conditions. But others who flew today were able to remain aloft for varying periods of time, enjoying the scenery, and the warm sunshine. If you decided to remain at home instead of coming to Avenal today, you missed a fun day with lots of good friends on the field.

3. John Scott flew down from Concord, CA, in his beautifully restored Piper 180, which you should have seen, and hooked up with Alex Caldwell for a checkout in the Blanik. Three flights later, he got his sign-off. Perhaps he will join our club someday, but we realize that flying down from Concord is not a quick and easy flight. We have others who travel from that area and farther including Paul Hanson from Hayward, Bart Klusek from Davis, Rich Miller from Berkeley, Dave Pilati from Berkeley, and Steve Schery from San Jose. John seemed to enjoy the time here, including interacting with our members, and watching the operations. Maybe he'll be back.

4. James Beckman arrived with Morgan Hall and wanted to get started on his glider training. We did two flights and I was surprised at how well he handled the controls. He was making turns early on, and easily slipped into a steep turn that didn't seem to bother him, and it was well coordinated. For someone that early on in training, the yaw string remained markedly straight back most of his flying. Welcome, James. We look forward to having you as one of our club members.

5. Anthony Squires and Brenda Petty, his fiancée, visited today. Anthony has been a club member for more than ten years but living in So. California makes visiting Avenal a bit difficult. They took some excellent pictures of the operations today and I've put them on this site without indicating ownership. Just assume that the majority are theirs.

6. Morgan Hall brought his Duo Discus to Avenal and that was a very big event. He has been flying it at Santa Ynez because we had no tow plane to launch with. Now, however, it flew here, and might very well fly here again soon. He and Pancho Herrera were aloft for 3.3 hours, flying the mountains and down southeast to the 41-33 intersection. That sure is a luxury sailplane with more room in the cockpit than most small cars.

7. Durval Frietas and Allen White did the towing and did it well. Thanks to both of you for your time and careful flying.

8. There were a few others out today including Jeff Lowe, Bart Klusek, Rich Miller, Joe Anastasio (and dog), and Brad whose last name I didn't get and who enjoyed the warm sun lying on a mat in the grass.

9. Now is the time for new students to get moving towards solo, and for our current solo students to move rapidly towards their license. The weather will keep getting better and the thermals stronger. The training is still the best time right now so take advantage of it and build experience for when the air  will be stronger and more turbulent. We also encourage our licensed members to come out and enjoy Avenal again, now that we have two tow planes available for whatever the glider gross weight. Many of you are a bit rusty from having no flights during the winter doldrums. Come on out, get the rust out, thermal high, and head cross country. There's more to soaring than just hanging around the field comfortably within gliding range. Take a chance, head out, don't look back until you can no longer see the gliderport. Then your concentration will sharpen quickly, and your focus will be intense. The thrill of being that far out and managing to return is worth the effort.   more info

1.  Allen White and I showed up at Avenal hoping to have the tow plane flown over from Hollister. The low clouds and steady rain obviously prevented that and we'll try again next Saturday.

2. For those of you who have been waiting for dual flights, next Saturday looks promising. The tow plane should be here and dual flights in the 2-33 and the Blanik are available. So get back to working on your rating or license and be ready for the great Spring soaring weather that is just about here.   more info

1.  We had a nice turnout for the Annual Meeting. There were about 24 members present with another 12 or so represented by proxies. Most of the meeting covered what has happened over the past two years on Richard Walker's watch, much of it good additions to the club, some of it we'd rather not relive. There are urgencies to be prepared for as we move into the year 2010 including tow planes, tow pilots, grounds keeping, maintenance issues, member involvement, and, of course, financial issues. Much of that was transferred to the new administration to deal with. Sound like national politics? But a lot more friendly and less bipartisanship.

2. Morgan Hall was elected our new President. I am confident he will be a great addition to the ranks of past Presidents and has already shown his willingness to move ahead on important issues regardless of the obstacles. His calls for more member involvement rather than letting the Board do all the work is a request we all need to acknowledge and respond to accordingly. More social events to bring the members together more often and establish a stronger sense of camaraderie is well needed. We expect to see more planning and written goals for all of us and that is welcomed. CONGRATULATIONS, MORGAN, AND WE ARE ALL COMMITTED TO MAKING OUR CLUB BETTER ALL AROUND FOR IT'S MEMBERS.

3. Peter Sahlberg was elected Vice President, Maintenance, a critically important position that affects not only the financial stability of the club, but more importantly, the safety of all of us. It will be a nearly impossible job to try and fill the void left by Joe Anastasio. Joe did more work, unannounced, in our club than practically anyone. Joe's contributions directly affected the safety and welfare of anyone flying in the CCSC. It is probably going to take Peter, and a few other members to match the contributions made by Joe over the past many years that Joe has been V.P. Maintenance. However, I believe Peter is the person who can most closely match those contributions if he has the continuing help from other club members. He plans to assign a member to each glider to oversee its condition and safety, letting Peter know what needs to be done and when. I think that formula will be a thorough way to ensure that nothing is left to chance in that area. CONGRATULATIONS, PETER, AND REST ASSURED WE ARE ALL COMMITTED TO HELPING YOU KEEP THE FLEET MAINTAINED IN A SAFE AND SECURE CONDITION.

4. Dan Gudgel was re-elected Vice President Operations, a position Dan has held for a decade or more. But his qualifications for the job are unmatched and we're happy he has agreed to serve another term. We are pleased at the makeup of the new Board, a group that represents strong qualifications and equally strong commitments to raising the level of the club beyond where we have been in past decades. CONGRATULATIONS, DAN, AND THANKS FOR BEING WILLING TO SERVE ANOTHER TERM IN A DIFFICULT AND IMPORTANT ROLE IN CCSC.

5. At the conclusion of the meeting, the members pondered on whether to fly or not. It was past 1:30 pm and many had thought the weather wouldn't have turned out as good. But Steve Schery agreed to tow since Harlow, Ethan, and I need to get back to Fresno early afternoon. That was a tough move since those clouds pleaded with us to try them out. We didn't, but a number of other members did, including Bart Klusek, and here is his report:

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Harold,
I thought I would send a short summary of flying activities after the meeting.
Joe flew once (Blanik) and so did Rich Miller (LP-49). Peter Sahlberg flew twice (2-33) and I flew three times (Blanik). Alex flew his RV-3. Steve Schery did the towing.
After a couple of 15-minute sled rides, conditions improved a bit. I managed to stay up for 40 minutes. Peter's and Rich's last flights were about as long.
Maximum lift was two knots. I found mostly zero sink (but a lot of it!). Maximum altitude of the day was 4000 feet.
Above the Cu layer, views were absolutely amazing. Of course, one had to get towed up there...
Bart

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6. The weather is beginning to turn for the better. We expect February to start those "booming soaring" days we always see this time of year. So those of you who have been hibernating at home instead of coming out to the gliderport, need to rethink that approach. And keep in mind that this year we definitely are going to have our Annual Contest, complete with another in a series of great T-Shirts and excitement on the field for the five days of the contest. We also encourage our members to participate in the contest, even if all you do is enter the Sports Class to gain contest experience.

7. We expect to have a tow plane on the field soon that can tow dual flights in the 2-33 and Blanik. You will be notified the moment that becomes a reality and our target date is next Saturday, February 6th. Keep your fingers crossed.   more info

1. For those who thought the day at Avenal wouldn't produce any lift, I have some good news for you. There was thermal lift and wave lift and if you had been here you would have enjoyed the ride. It took only a 2400 agl tow and you could have stayed up all afternoon. It was a glorious day with the sun shining and the temperature reaching all the way to 68 degrees. Who would have thought. The wind was from the southeast as we pulled the gliders out for launch. Then after two launches from the far end of the runway, the wind shifted to the west-northwest the remainder of the afternoon. None of us went aloft until we visited Debbie's for hamburgers and nice social visiting. As you may notice from the photos, the land around Avenal is beginning to green out and now looks like Nature spread an emerald carpet over the hills and dales. Finally as we packed up and left the gliderport, the sunset gave us reason to celebrate the day and the gorgeous evening.

2. I went up first in the 1-26 and hit a series of thermals out near the tanks. The lift alternated between 100 and 500 fpm but it was ragged, ill-contoured, and made chasing it a bit difficult. I managed to remain aloft for half an hour but couldn't get the little ship out and into the wave. I guessed right that Joe Anastasio in the Blanik would not have any difficulty getting into it.

3. Joe launched while I was still aloft and when I returned to the field, we all watched with envy as he soared higher and higher, with all of us guessing from the ground that he must be at least 6000 feet high. At times it looked like he was heading even higher but after landing he reported that he was maintaining essentially 6000 msl the entire time as he flew parallel with the West Ridge. His time aloft was one hour, eighteen minutes and he said he came down only because he was getting too tired to continue working the wave. That was a very nice flight for Joe and for the day of soaring. It would have been nice to see more pilots out there today, but I guess they had other more important things to do.

4. Jerry Smeltzer was out here today but upon preflighting himself, he decided that he wasn't feeling well enough to fly. He had been in the hospital with pneumonia a week ago and wasn't feeling up to par, or at least well enough to fly safely. That was a good decision and we always encourage our pilots to preflight themselves first before doing it to their aircraft.

5. Alex Caldwell showed up mid-afternoon and was mulling over the decision to fly or not. When we pointed out Joe's flight to him, he decided that when Joe returned he'd take the Blanik and get in the wave himself. He did but reported that getting off tow early spoiled the chance to snag the wave. He tried by flying southeast along the West Ridge searching for an entrance but found nothing. So, within a few minutes, he returned to base and we put the gliders to bed.

6. The tow plane was flown with skill by Harlow Voorhees and we appreciate his efforts to contribute to the club. After the last flight, he flew the Cessna 150 to Fresno where he and Ray Harkins will be doing the annual inspection. Then it will be flown back in time to tow next Saturday, January 23rd. Maybe we'll see you there.

7. On the way home, the sky was marked by the wave, and by a spectacular sunset that kept changing minute-by-minute. All in all, the day was fun, the weather warm, the visibility unlimited, and the camaraderie enjoyable. We wished you were here to enjoy it with us.   more info

1.As usual, it was thick fog in the Central Valley all the way to the top of the Kettleman Hills. At Avenal, the fog was above the field but not by much. We couldn't fly in the morning but by noon, the fog began to disappear. In the meantime, we headed to Debbie's for lunch and figured that by the time we were done, the fog would have lifted. Sure enough, that's what happened. By the time we arrived back at the clubhouse, the fog had gone away and hazy blue skies were showing.

2. Mel Council arrived with his wife, Kim, and son Darren. Mel is a friend of mine from back in 2001 when I taught him to fly power planes. Now he is a CFI and teaches out of Madera, as well as an A&P, and a teacher at a Madera school. Now that's a well-rounded education! Mel brought his wife and son to Avenal so that Darren could experience flying a glider. Since I was the only tow pilot on the field, and since Richard Walker plus Darren Council weigh less than our max gross glider weight, Richard took him up to 3000 agl and both had a nice flight. It was interesting to see the thick fog right up to the top of the Kettleman Hills on the east side but no farther over into the Avenal valley. Of course, above the haze layer, the visibility was more than 100 miles. One could easily see Mt. Pinos at 8840 msl near the Gorman pass.

3. Jeff Lowe, Peter Sahlberg, Bart Klusek, and Richard Walker all flew several launches today for a total of ten tows. There were three tows to 4000 agl and that helps the club toward its budget goal. Thanks to you guys who knew in advance that lift probably wasn't anywhere to be found but decided to launch anyway. It's like making a contribution to the finances we need to maintain our operations here. Winter is tough on budgets but this winter has been especially difficult because of that gross weight restriction on towing. We're hoping for a larger, more powerful tow plane and maybe that will happen within a few weeks. We need it.

4. Peter Sahlberg brought his nicely constructed model Cirrus glider out to Avenal today and launched it a few times. No, thermals were nowhere to be found but he had fun anyway and so did we watching it fly, right up until the crash that was investigated by the NTSB (Nicely Trained Salvage Board). Peter says the glider is repairable so were hoping to see it in action on a day when the thermals are strong. It definitely looks like a full scale glider even as low as 30 feet in the air.

5. Most of these weekends the fog has lifted in time to fly. It is a good idea to fly at least once every several weeks even though the lift isn't much. And you also need to stay current if you intend on carrying passengers. If you have been confused about the tow plane situation, the short explanation is this: we are towing every weekend, we can tow any glider as long as the total weight of glider and passengers does not exceed 917 lbs. That means all gliders flown solo are OK and two passengers whose combined weight does not exceed 300 lbs in the 2-33's are OK. So, come on out, enjoy a nice hazy day at Avenal, fly once or twice, both for yourself and for the club's budget that we need to maintain all through the winter. Make a contribution to the club by getting towed or by buying a tow for someone else who might not be able to purchase a tow every weekend.   more info

1. Fortunately the thick fog enveloping Fresno and the Central Valley didn't get over to Avenal until very late in the afternoon. So the first weekend of the New Year was at least flyable, even though the lift was practically non-existent. Actually, with the sunshine filling our little valley here, it seemed warmer than the actual temperature of 55 degrees. That didn't hold true late in the afternoon when the fog bank from the Central Valley and the fog bank over the West Ridge converged right over the airport and closed up very quickly. The tow plane and the glider being towed, both got down safely before the fog closed up. It turned out to be a good lesson for those who think that clouds can't form that quickly or move that rapidly.

2. There were nine of us out here today. Three from the Mersino family, Peter, Jacob, and Andrea. Mak Balucas, Karl Kunz, Joe Anastasio, Dave   Johnson, Steve Schery, and I. All of us except Steve, headed to Debbie's for lunch, then went back to the gliderport and did some flying (gliding). With little wind, and a warm sun, everyone seemed in a good mood, with smiles all around.

3. We did get a few things accomplished around the field. The Mersinos dug a new line for a sprinkler at the northwest corner of our grassy area. We hope to have a nice lawn for the Spring and Summer months. We also hassled Joe a bit for his bright red Jaguar with the huge rear wheels. Can't imagine drag racing with a Jaguar but who am I to say. Good looking car he has there. We also went to Coalinga, bought a new outdoor thermometer, and filled up gas cans for refueling the tow plane.

4. Joe Anastasio got his first chance to ride in the tow plane, and actually flew it after the tow, all the way down to short final. He seems trainable and one day we might see him doing some of the towing. Earlier in the day he flew the Blanik out towards the West Ridge and found little lift, not enough to make any reasonable altitude gains.

5. Andrea and Jacob Mersino flew together for the first time ever. Jacob is now an instructor at the Air Force Academy and Andrea is close to her Private License. They really enjoyed flying together.

6. Mak Balucas flew twice today. Once with Jacob Mersino, then afterwards, he flew solo and did very well on and off tow.

7. All in all, it was an inauspicious start of the New Year but it could have been worse. We had enough tows to make some money for our budget and that will help. Most everyone stayed around until dark settled in, and went home feeling a bit satisfied, while not ebullient about the lift.   more info

1. So far, December has provided us with more than our share of rain. Today was no exception. If this keeps up, we'll have more than the normal rainfall for the month. The El Nino is building in the ocean and that often means more rain for CA. We'll see.

2. The weather didn't prevent the Board of CCSC from meeting, with the hot topic being the tow plane we bought that turned out to be illegal, and the new information about current restrictions on all Cessna 150's for glider towing. We are going after the perpetrators who were involved in the sale of the illegal tow plane, and we are considering engineering studies to see if we can eliminate the weight restriction on the current tow plane, N4205U. We'll keep you informed of our progress.

3. Don't forget to keep current. We can still tow any glider with a single occupant as long as the combination of glider and pilots doesn't exceed 917 lbs. Try your best to maintain currency during the winter months so you don't get too rusty and risk making a mistake on your next flight. Even a single tow to altitude is worth the drive out and keeps your mind on aviation safety. See you at Avenal.   more info

The big news of the day is the complete repainting of the clubhouse by Daniel Solis, his crew, and the members who volunteered their time to not only prepare the building, but afterwards, paint the white trim on the sandy-colored main building. It really looks great. Mario also chose the grey-blue color for the patio posts and steel structure, and that matches well with the rest of the building.

These are the members who contributed to the project:

Daniel Solis and his crew

Joe Anastasio

Mario Crosina

Richard Walker

Jerry Badal

Peter Mersino, Jacob Mersino

Morgan Hall, Julie Butler and friend, Jen

Yutaka Buto

Jose "Chao" Rivera

and any other member whose name I might have missed.

THANK YOU ONE AND ALL !!   more info

1. Well, it wasn't at all clear that we would be towing today. We had the alternator and regulator serviced during the week and it looked like all we had to do was install them and flight could commence. That didn't happen according to plan. Turns out that the circuit for the regulator wasn't exactly right and those working on the plane took many laborious hours and frustrations before they finally figured out what was wrong. Finally, about mid-afternoon, the plane was ready and we were able to tow anyone who needed to launch. The soaring weather wasn't perfect but at least some of the gliders remained aloft enough to justify waiting those hours to fly.

2. Daniel Solis, one of our nicest club members, completely surprised us with his offer to bring his painting crew to Avenal to repaint both the inside and outside of the clubhouse. We haven't changed the paint for more than 17 years and it was time. All we had to do was the prep work and Daniel would do the rest. Replacing  rotten wood, pressure washing the building outside, taping windows on the inside, all were projects we needed to complete before the big paint. Lots of members showed up to help out and didn't reward themselves with a soaring flight because it took all day into the early evening before all was ready. THANK YOU, DANIEL, FROM ALL OF US !!

3. Yutaka Buto finally got his practice checkride flights done since he's going to be taking his checkride within the next several weeks. He's ready to pass and now it's just a matter of when he and Dan Gudgel can work out a mutual schedule.

4. The real heroes of the clean up included Joe Anastasio, Jerry Badal,  Mario Crosina, Richard Walker, with Julie and Jen doing the window coverings. The heroes of the tow plane included Karl Kunz, Steve Schery, Richard Walker, and Joe Anastasio. For all of these members, we thank you for your contributions helping to make our club better and more successful.   more info

1. Joe Anastasio was one of the few people who showed up at Avenal today. The day wasn't particularly conducive to soaring and probably most responsible for the lack of flights. Joe promptly got to work replacing the end beams on the clubhouse roof in preparation for making the clubhouse more winter-proof. Both ends had 2x12 caps that had rotted over the years and were going to leak had they not been replaced. It's not a fun thing to do except that the skies weren't beckoning so there was less temptation to give up the job and go aloft. Anyway, that's how  Joe spent his time at Avenal today.

2. Later in the afternoon, Morgan and Julie decided to head for the West  mountains in the Blanik towed by their favorite flight instructor. They did find some lift, stayed out there about 40 minutes and returned at least partially satisfied for the day. Then a lot of effort went into making the inside of the clubhouse more presentable. Maybe we'll get it painted someday.

3. Before returning to Fresno we removed the starter motor from the Tow plane to have it rebuilt at a shop in Sacramento so that starting would be much easier. Up until now, we've had some difficulty getting the engine to start on just a few cranks.   more info

1. Bart Klusek worked hard, kept at it through the Fall and finally was awarded his Private Pilot's license today. Dan told me that Bart had done such a good job on the oral exam, it should be a model for all future prospects for the Private License. Congratulations, Bart, and we expect to see you continue on with your ratings after you've had several months of just going flying for the fun of it. Put the training in the background for awhile and enjoy the wonderful world of pure flight.

2. On Sunday we had the group from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo out for a series of glider rides. That kept us going all day and into the evening. In the morning we had a short presentation on the white board talking about what to expect aloft, especially on tow. Then everyone adjourned to the launch area where we kept the gliders going and the two flight instructors remained in the gliders during the effort, changing students after each flight. Everyone had a good time, then returned to the patio where a nice lunch was provided by the CCSC staff members. In fact, the day lingered on and although many left in early afternoon, some stayed on into the evening, leaving only when it got too dark to do anything else. It was surely a fun day for everyone, and hopefully a learning experience for the students. Thanks again to Kurt Colvin, a Professor of Industrial Engineering at Cal Poly for organizing and making sure it all happened on schedule. We are looking forward to the future possibility of a permanent arrangement with Cal Poly where students could make flying a part of the Aero Engineering curriculum. Those are being pursued and we hope become a reality for both groups.   more info

1. Drew came to Avenal determined to learn to fly gliders. He already has a power license but that doesn't guarantee he can easily learn glider flying. After a few flights it became apparent that Drew was a quick learner. In fact, he learned in nearly the fastest time and flew three solo flights with ease. That's not to say he wasn't nervous, or at least, a bit anxious. But he dealt with those emotions and did well. Now he can go forward and add the rating to his Private Pilot's License. CONGRATULATIONS, DREW!!

2. Morgan Hall made it happen. He investigated it, organized it, managed it, and encouraged members to put up enough money to buy it. So we proudly add "Big Bird" to our fleet of gliders. There were some 10 or 12 members who put up cash, and Carl Kunz, on his own time and expense, flew to Chicago to inspect the glider and talk to the maintenance folks there. It was a wonderful example of what can happen when one person moves forward in spite of seemingly impossible odds, thinks clearly enough to see how such a transaction could happen, then pushes hard through phone calls, emails, and a check out of his own pocket to secure the purchase. All that took place and Morgan is the guy who did it..

CONGRATULATIONS, MORGAN, AND THANKS FROM ALL OF US!!

3. Bart Klusek is nearing his checkride, now scheduled for November 7th. We wish him luck and look forward to him being awarded his Private Pilot's License - Gliders. Bart surely has worked hard these past few months in preparing for the checkride. He also has been one of the hardest working guys around the clubhouse. He arrives in Avenal on Friday evening and early Saturday morning one can find him cleaning the gliders and getting them ready to fly. He also cleans up around the clubhouse and most of the members who show up on a Saturday probably don't notice how much work has gone into getting the area ready for habitation. THANKS, BART !!

4. Yutaka Buto is on his way to a checkride, although it isn't scheduled yet. But my guess is that sometime in mid-November, he'll take the test. He was flying today in anticipation of that ride.

5. Ed Lowder, a recently arrived MD in Fresno, came out to see the Club in operation. He really pitched in with all the rest of the members in assembling Big Bird. He hasn't yet mentioned joining the club but he did so well on his flight that I suspect he's tempted to come back and finish what he had started in gliders a few years earlier.

6. Andrea Mersino was in the thick of things all day, then finally flew Big Bird in the afternoon. She is so close to her license but now it looks like basketball at her high school will take precedence over gliding and her checkride might now be put off for months. Oh well, we tried to make it happen earlier but somehow it just wasn't in the cards.

7. Mak Balucas also was helping out everywhere, mostly driving the golf cart, and helping assemble Big Bird. He flew the Orange Crush in late afternoon on his first unsupervised solo flight at 3000 agl. Mak continues to work on getting better at flying but for now, he needs to just enjoy the thrill of being alone up there, flying wherever, with no one in the back seat hassling him over imperfect technique.

8. Karl Kunz was on hand, doing what everyone else was doing, helping to assemble Big Bird, then flew the 1-26 in not very good lift. He enjoyed it anyway and was a major player in making the glider addition happen. THANKS CARL FOR ALL YOUR HELP !!

9. Bruce Patton showed up, helped out, then took his glider back to SLO for some winter work that never seems to get done during soaring season. Sure was nice to see Bruce again, it's been awhile. He's retired from Diablo Canyon but spent much of the last few months as lead engineer on one of the teams that competed in the Reno Air Races. They came in third.

10. Near the end of the day, Julie Butler and I went aloft to get her more comfortable flying the Blanik. She is going to be flying a DG100 around the first of the year and flying the Blanik is a good introduction to a higher performance sailplane. She did well on this flight and we might take one or two more next time.   more info

1. Our newest solo pilot, Mak Balucas, knew he would do it some day soon and he fulfilled on his promise to me. He studied hard, flew well, accepted being pushed hard to excel, and finally, today, he became a pilot. We all send our CONGRATULATIONS, MAK, for a task well done. For the moment, revel in your accomplishment, and remember today for your lifetime. It was especially nice for Mak because his Dad (Marc), Mom (Marcee), and Grandmother (Linda) were on hand to wish him well.

The first two review flights were not superb because it was obvious Mak was a bit nervous. So accepting that fact, I knew he'd do well once on his own. It was no difficulty to let him solo since he had done so well last week on his only three flights to pattern altitude. No question this time as each flight was smooth and precise as the others. And he managed his energy to arrive all the way back to the launch area. Good show, Mak.

2. CCSC had another Board of Directors meeting today and covered some issues that had arisen since the last meeting. All the members of the board were present and discussion was lively.

3. Peter Sahlberg flew one practice checkride flight with the expected maneuvers and did well. He's ready for the flight portion of the checkride and probably pretty close to being ready for the oral as well.

4. Bart Klusek also is nearing his checkride and flew one practice flight with me. Alex will sign him off for his license and we all wish him the best on his checkride. Bart, by the way, usually arrives late Friday evening and early Saturday morning is up and preparing gliders, cleaning things up, and generally extremely helpful around the clubhouse, something most members wouldn't notice unless they saw how things were before Bart arrived. Thanks, Bart for all your help.

5. Andrea Mersino helped out everywhere including helping Mak with his solo launches and giving him moral support. Andrea is also getting close to her checkride, so perhaps by Christmas we'll be celebrating three of our members as Licensed Pilots.

6. Richard Walker and Peter Sahlberg were assembling Richard's Schweizer 1-35. They didn't get to fly it but Peter learned about the assembly in the process. It may be that Peter and Richard will become partners in that glider, a move that would be good for both of them.

7. Because of the meager lift, most of those on hand for the Board Meeting didn't fly. Still it was a nice day, cool, and mostly smooth air that made for a perfect time to solo.   more info

1. Well, another week goes by and still no story for these new photos. But there will be a story for these and it may be in a few days. I know you've heard that before but I'm doing the best I can (which may not be very good). Because of the captions on the photos, you can pretty well determine for yourself what the story line will contain.

So enjoy the photos, make up your own story, and later (hopefully not too much later) I'll finish writing what went on this week and upload it for you.

Thanks for your patience,

Harold Gallagher   more info

1. In order to get this page to you (it's already much later than I wanted it to be), I opted to write the story line later and let you just enjoy the photos of what was quite a week of soaring. As you can see, we had all levels of age groups represented, including a bevy of beauties compliments of Jack Wiegand, to all the young boys of Avenal who really wanted to learn to fly gliders. As they remarked, they watch the gliders in the air over Avenal and wish they could be up there in one of them.

So enjoy the photos, make up your own story, and later (hopefully not too much later) I'll finish writing what went on this week and upload it for you.

Thanks for your patience,

Harold Gallagher   more info

1. Well, it was a busy weekend for sure. And had it not been for Dan's agreeable nature it would have been a longer weekend. Jack Wiegand was scheduled for his checkride on Sunday, and Julie Butler was scheduled for hers on Monday. But early Sunday, we discussed doing both checkrides on Sunday and since none of us wanted to come out again on Monday, we did did get both done on Sunday.

JACK WIEGAND: As you can see from the photo above, a very small but determined young man came out to Avenal with his parents just three days after turning 13 years old. Jack was so small it was hard to take him seriously, that is until he started asking questions that really floored me. His manner was so much more grownup than his stature, I did a double take at the early questions. Pretty soon I realized that I could no longer afford to just treat him as another young person wanting to take a demo ride. Jack was determined to move toward his pilot's license. But look at the photo above of Jack when he was barely 13 and you'll see why it was hard to consider him a candidate. That tiny guy asking me questions turned into a nearly six footer who has flown 150 glider flights and has more experience in the air than almost anyone I can think of that ever went for their checkride. When he started training, he literally could not reach the rudder pedals, regardless of how many cushions he put behind him. He had to slide himself toward each rudder pedal as he learned to fly and at first it was comical. In no time, however, I came to appreciate his determination in spite of not being able to properly push the rudders. I have had so much satisfaction training Jack that I am sorry to see him graduate to being a Licensed Pilot. For example, on the day he soloed (on his 14th birthday) he had already amassed 69 glider flights with me in the 2-33. He was so competent at flying a glider that I had no hesitation at all of letting him fly the single seat 1-26 even though we had no chance to train in it. Nevertheless he flew it beautifully and after his three solo flights in it, he then went aloft chasing thermals the rest of the afternoon. I have loved every minute of flying with Jack and wish him success in his future endeavors. He has already begun training in power planes and no doubt he'll do well in that area of flight. Having said all that, the real force behind Jack, supporting him in his dream to learn to fly are Irene and Dwight Wiegand. They have been helpful in every way imaginable either taking him to Avenal on numerous occasions, or encouraging him when he was dispirited, while providing the all-important financial assistance to get through Jack's training. Without Irene and Dwight, Jack would probably be just another young man, leaning on the outside fence of the airport, wishing he was in the air, as so many of us have done when we were his age.

CONGRATULATIONS JACK, AND THANKS TO IRENE AND DWIGHT.

JULIE BUTLER: For years now, Julie has been the dependable crew chasing after Morgan Hall as he flew his hang glider around the mountains of California, or perhaps elsewhere as well. When Morgan came to Avenal to see what soaring was all about, thinking he might want to go after a pilot's license, Julie was along as she has been with Morgan for years. I'm not sure what prompted her to take a demo flight but she did and during the flight handled the controls very well. I remember telling her that perhaps she might think about learning to fly gliders because she had a very nice touch on the controls. Well, folks, as the old cliché goes, the rest is history. Julie became enamored with soaring, committed to training, studied on her own, passed her written exam with a 97% and flew like bird. She said she didn't want to have a higher score than Morgan to avoid making him feel bad. Hmmm, no competitive spirit there, eh? I am proud of her accomplishment and really enjoyed training her. She learns quickly, studies hard, retains well, and maintains a discipline found in few other students.  Her personality has been a joy to all who have been at Avenal with her. Even though she schedules early, she readily gives up some of her scheduled time if there is a need for it, or for someone needing to get home early, or for a demo flight that happens to interrupt the normal operations. In spite of all that she still manages to get her training done quietly and unobtrusively. In all of her efforts, however, she has been supported unfailingly by Morgan Hall, her honey of a few years, and for that we thank Morgan. We expect to see Julie now embarking on her cross country phase alongside Morgan in his ASW-20 while Julie flies her DG500 now being prepared for her up in Northern California. Thanks for the wonderful months of flying with you, Julie and I wish you much success in your future flying.

CONGRATULATIONS JULIE, AND THANKS TO MORGAN HALL.

2. The photos on this page tell the story of what went on over the weekend. Beginning with Friday when Jack Wiegand flew four flights with Dan Gudgel towing. Then on Saturday, Jack and Julie flew again as final review flights before the checkride on Sunday. And on Sunday, Peter Sahlberg came out to fly and after numerous frustrating launches over the past few months, Peter finally hit the big one. He soared over 2.5 hours, reached altitudes over 7000 msl, roamed the area, used up altitude then promptly got it back again on at least half a dozen occasions. Great going, Peter. Now all we have to do is schedule his checkride near the end of September and another CCSC pilot will join the ranks of Licensed Pilots.

3. Chris Karapostoles is another of our pilots who is nearing his checkride. Chris has been in Florida on aerial exercises flying the Navy's legacy FA-18. We are happy to report that Chris made it to the top of his class in those exercises and of course we would have accepted nothing less than first place. So, is he our own favorite TOP GUN?

4. Andrea Mersino hasn't been at Avenal lately due to commitments for basketball, pole vaulting, and assorted other extracurricular activities. But now she has some time and is determined to get her Private License by the end of September. I think she can do it but needs to concentrate on both flying and ground material. Today she flew refresher flights for renewal of her solo privileges and is on the training cycle again.

5. Mak Balucas was out again, continuing his training and making good progress. I suspect he'll be soloing within a few weeks especially if the weather calms down a bit. It has been very turbulent on tow these past two months of summer with cool air aloft and a blazingly hot sun.

6. It was nice to see Allen White out again this weekend. Allen has been towing for Hollister and although a member of our CCSC hasn't always had the time to visit. Today he was here and we hope he continues to visit us more often.

7. Harlow Voorhees did the bulk of the towing on Saturday with Cliff Stone doing a few just to maintain currency. Harlow is our energizer bunny because he just keeps going all day long with nary a break in the towing. Thanks to both of these good guys who keep us all up in the air. more info

1. It wasn't a particularly fabulous day, the heights weren't all that great but the racing sailplane pilots stayed up for hours. One can milk a lot of weak lift for hours with an L/D of 40 or more. And that's what happened for at least some of the pilots. Others were in training and really needed to sharpen up their flight skills. The day remained cool, not getting much above 90 deg which for Avenal in August is remarkable. Lift was in the 3-5 knot range but certainly enough to remain aloft as long as one could hold out.

2. Jack Wiegand and Julie Butler are scheduled to take their checkrides next Sunday and Monday respectively. They both have been working hard studying and practicing the flight maneuvers and I know they'll be up to the challenge. And indeed it is a challenge. There are no giveaways in getting a pilot's license. The skies would become crowded if that was the case. But an applicant for the license must really prove themselves worthy by not only passing a written test, but must face an oral exam of 1-2 hours and a flight test that covers all the required maneuvers one would expect of a licensed pilot. The FAA rightly insists that anyone with a pilot's license must meet a high standard in order to insure that the public, when invited to ride in an aircraft, can be assured that the pilot can be relied on to fly them safely all during the flight. Our soaring members who are licensed pilots are indeed safe and can be counted on to act accordingly when taking any of the public for a glider ride.

3. Norm Lambert was out again for his continued quest of solo flight, and then later on, becoming a licensed pilot. Norm is getting better at the tow and the landing and those are usually the final elements in qualifying for solo flight. But he, like others before him, is continually reminded to "keep the wings level", when not turning or slipping. Norm has written a nice short piece on his frustrating quest for solo flight and either he will agree to make it available to our readers or you will see it when he gets it published.

4. James Bishop continued his training with Alex Caldwell and is progressing nicely towards his solo flight. He also has been most helpful in bringing full gas containers with him from the Coalinga airport for fueling our tow plane. That saves us all a lot of time lost and we really appreciate his efforts. Thanks, James.

5. Peter Sahlberg helped out a lot today, as he usually does, then went flying in the 1-26. He wasn't terribly pleased with his flights and that's only because he has been working every weekend for the past few months and hasn't had any time to go soaring. That will change because he is a dedicated student of the art of soaring.

6. Makynzee Balucas continues his training. He has improved remarkably in his thermaling, going up twice today and at one point gaining over 1400 feet. He takes more of the tow each time and will soon have the tow under his control completely.

7. Bart Klusek arrived early at Avenal and started cleaning up the 2-33 right away. Anyone who has come out to Avenal and had to both clean up the glider and preflight it will appreciate Bart's efforts. Thanks to you, Bart. He also flew with Alex in the 2-33 having changed over from the Blanik because he will be taking his checkride in the Blanik. In the meantime, the 2-33 is booked pretty solidly and Bart had no choice except to ask for a checkout in the 1-26. He did well, especially on the first part of the tow and the rest of the flight went quite satisfactorily. Now he has a choice when the 2-33 is being used by others.

8. Mike Edelstein was visiting the Avenal area and decided to come over for a look at our operations. In the process he decided to take a demo ride since he's already a power pilot at a base in Florida. Mike seemed to enjoy the flight with Alex and perhaps when he returns to FL he'll take up our sport.

9. Morgan Hall, Mario Crosina, and Jerry Badal all went soaring in the mountains. Naturally they were aloft for something in excess of four hours simply enjoying the cool air aloft and flying with one another.

10. Jerry Smeltzer pulled his Nugget out of the box and did some work on it. Not sure when he'll fly it for the first time but that day won't be far off. He did get the ailerons adjusted at Warner Springs and now the control surfaces seem to be operating properly.

11. Yutaka Buto flew the 1-26 and reported a very satisfactory flight. He is already an accomplished commercial pilot flying for AmeriFlight on cargo flights around California. He is also planning on being part of the tow pilot roster of which we are adding new pilots each week.

12. Ethan Ronat flew the Blanik up northwest along the mountains and at one point joined up with Morgan Hall. Morgan, seeing a photo-op took a few pictures of Ethan and both flew on in different directions.

13. Thanks to Harlow Voorhees there was no lapse of tow coverage. He towed all day with a few exceptions to train additional tow pilots for our roster. Harlow is an energizer bunny when it comes to flying. Even after 23 flights today he seemed as if he could have gone on another few hours. He tows very well, is empathetic with the pilot on tow and knows what to do and what not to do during the tow, especially in strong turbulence. more info

1. The headlines tell the whole story. Booming thermals, heights above 12,000 msl, long distances achieved, student pilots thermaling high, cool air aloft, and reasonably cool on the ground. It truly was an enjoyable time to be flying gliders at Avenal. And it looks to be the same for the coming weekends. We're in a cycle where the cool air aloft allows the heated air on the ground to rise faster and higher than it would otherwise. Since no one is sure how long these cycles will last, it behooves our members to head to Avenal for some great soaring fun and camaraderie.

2. Alex went aloft for his three BFR flights and now has another two years before the next one. The air was cool and the fierce thermals hadn't yet gotten to the point of strong turbulence. It was just a nice time to fly three easy flights.

3. Bart Klusek and Alex launched from the far end because the wind early in the morning had come from the southeast. They were getting Bart back into the groove for flying the 2-33 because that's the one he'll take his checkride in.

4. Mario Crosina and Morgan Hall prepared their gliders for what they knew would turn out to be nice high and long flights. I was fortunate to have towed them both aloft on such a great soaring day. Here is how Morgan told Jerry Badal about today's flight:

Hey Jerry,
I wish you could have been there yesterday.  Classic statement, I know, but it was a great day.  A little rough and ragged at the start of the day, but it just built and built for the rest of the afternoon.  After a low start in the valley and a push NW towards Coalinga, the call of the mountains pulled Mario and I in.  I headed for a forming cloud to the North of Black and found very strong lift.  10-knot average with a few spikes that were showing over 14 knots.  After that thermal started to back off I headed North to the next cloud about 12 miles away up towards Center Peak.  Connected with that climb and then pushed across to the San Benito Range.  There was a convergence line well defined with some clouds along the San Benito Range and I worked that up to just west of Panoche.  I was at about 9000 around Panoche and had a 19 mph headwind on the return so I played it conservative and didn't cross the Panoche Valley.  When I turned around I got into a little wave and played around in the glass smooth 1-2 knot for a few minutes.  There was much better lift along the convergence so the wave was just something fun to experience.  Heading back south I connected with Mario at San Benito Mtn and we followed the convergence SE for 20 miles or so before getting separated.  I took a long smooth glide down to Orchard peak and then back to Black as I was thinking it was getting about time to land (not knowing Julie and Harold were tooling around and going X-C in the 2-33 at that point).  Back at Black around 4000 I hit a 6-knot climb and couldn't resist coreing it up.  I took it to 6200 or so and decided to head north along the convergence line until I had a straight-in glide to Avenal with an extra 1000ft or so.  By the time I was north of Coalinga, I was at 7000 and stopped to climb because I saw Ethan in the Blanik overhead.  I circled up to catch up with him, then slipped down and around him to snap a few photos.  From there I continued north a ways until I had Avenal on a glide with 2000 ft extra.  I turned and headed for home flying around 110mph+ most of the way.  Even at 5:30 or so, there was still booming lift and a nice cloud street and haze domes along the convergence.  Alex and Ethan landed a half hour later or so.  Great day of flying though.
Hopefully we'll see you next weekend and get some good air.
Morgan
My OLC trace:
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-606471132

And here is Mario's OLC (On Line Contest) trace link:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-560419666

Morgan reached 11,558 msl and Mario went to 12,040 msl.

5. Julie Butler and I launched early afternoon on the third of what were going to be just short training flights. Because the turbulence was rough down low, we opted to release at 2000 msl rather than endure the knocking around we were getting from launch to pattern height. From that point on, Julie snagged a good strong thermal and in practically no time at all we were looking at 7,400 msl. On the way up the variometer spiked up towards 8-9 knots of lift. She let me fly the glider at 7400 and I successfully managed to find 6400 msl all too quickly. But, back up to over 7000 msl once again, we headed first to the mountains to seek higher lift and finding none, we returned to just west of the field. Back up high, we headed to Coalinga. Arriving past the prison and just about to the Coalinga airport, we turned back southeast again to Avenal. Once there, she thermalled back up again to 6700 msl and we headed out into the Central Valley east of I - 5. Then we turned northwest to show her the Hale duster strip and back over to the Avenal prison. By this time my glutes were feeling the effect of being a passenger for what seem like almost two hours. Finally we decided to land and found out the actual time aloft was 2.7 hours and calculated we covered over 70 miles in our journey. Julie did a superb job of keeping us at those high altitudes. Yes, it was fun and instructive, and with visibility almost unlimited, the scenery was magnificent. "You should have been there".

6. On this wonderful day, Alex took the GAPA aloft and managed to reach 6800 msl in that tiny little sailplane. He used the tow plane to get to pattern height but took care of the rest on his own. Now that's something, looking down from that height, sitting out in the air, with only straps between you and the ground. Fun, though, and Alex had a great time.

7. Ethan Ronat took the Blanik, headed to the mountains, and hooked up with Morgan northwest of Coalinga. Ethan managed to reach 10,500 msl on his flight and was aloft for several hours.

8. Jerry Smeltzer took his Nugget back to Warner Springs so the folks there could readjust the control surfaces after Mario's rather interesting flight the week before. We hope they get it all sorted out so Jerry can fly his own glider soon.

9. Dan Gudgel did most of the towing, but I had a chance to get checked out as a tow pilot with the launches of Morgan and Mario, plus another simulated tow. It certainly increases one's appreciation for the difficulty of being the tow pilot and trying to keep the airspeed within limits and the turns shallow in such turbulent air. Dan also worked with Steve Schery today getting him checked out as a tow pilot as well.

10. Makynzee Balucas came out with his Dad and Dad's girlfriend and took two flights with me. We went to 3800 msl early in the day, then went to 2800 msl when the air became too turbulent to stay on any higher. He is progressing very nicely and expect him to solo within or less than the normal time frame. He should be a very good soaring pilot in the future.

11. The final note of the day: the 1-26 sat at its moorings all day, with no one flying it. Hard to imagine that on a spectacular soaring day, there weren't more members out here flying anything that had wings. Maybe people were caught short, not thinking the day would be so good. But the weather people were forecasting cool weather all week long before today and so there didn't seem to be any reason why our members took the day off. The weather pattern is here and hopefully more will take advantage of it. more info

1. It was a fairly quiet day at Avenal, but the weather was quite nice. Hot, but tolerable and enough thermals to give everyone a day's worth of fun.

2. Martin came out, stayed most of the day until finally Mario had enough free time to take him for a glider ride. Yes, he had a good time and they stayed up long enough for Martin to note what soaring is all about.

3. Chris Karapostoles did his three practice flights necessary prior to his recommendation for his checkride. That likely won't happen until the end of August since Chris will be away on flight duty for the next three weeks.

4. Bart Klusek usually arrives on Friday night and stays over to fly the Blanik and the Orange Crush if either are available. He has been cleaning up the gliders early on Saturday morning for those who will be flying early. That certainly is a wonderful member thing to be doing for others and I hope all who come out to Avenal and fly an already cleaned up glider will think of Bart next time. You might even thank him for his efforts.

5. Mario put on a GPS seminar for all who would listen, and a few were there for his words of wisdom and experience.

6. Harlow Voorhees and Chris Karapostoles shared the towing duties after Chris completed his practice checkride flights.

7. Morgan and Julie took the Blanik aloft and had a nice time soaring in the area. Theirs was a long flight, enough to satisfy them that indeed there was enough lift to keep everyone happy.

8. Ethan Ronat and Yutaka Buto each flew the 1-26, did well, then were on the ground to watch Alex and Bart do their autotow experiment.

9. Mario flew Jerry Smeltzer's Nugget sailplane and good thing he did. He discovered that the left aileron needed significant adjustment but still managed to fly it safely. Turns out that while the aileron went up, it didn't go down, making a right turn all but impossible. The glider definitely needs work before it can be flown again.

10. Alex did well on autotow with Bart doing the accelerating, and accelerate he did. I "ran" the wing twice and didn't even take one step because the start was so instantaneous the wing was out of my hand before I could move. Alex reported he made 500 feet above ground level and thinks perhaps he could get higher with more practice. The thermals weren't numerous enough for him to catch one before he had to turn back and land. But one of these days they will be around more and I'll bet Alex will take the GAPA to great heights.

11. James Bishop came back and began his instructional series towards his Pilot's License .We wish him well and we are happy to have him as a club member. He lives in Coalinga and will be able to visit our gliderport more easily than most other members. WELCOME TO OUR CLUB, JAMES.

12. Norm Lambert came back today ready to fly again and is getting closer than ever to his solo flights. We are happy to see him fly again after an interval of flightless Saturdays. more info

1. Yes, it was 109 degrees in the shade on the patio. Out on the runway it seemed like 129 degrees. But the show must go on, and it did. For the first Saturday in a long time, we had a tow plane and two tow pilots. So there was no delay other than refueling and that didn't take too long. Those who headed to the mountains did get higher and therefore were cooler. The rest of us who needed to stay around the gliderport had only brief respites of cool air as we released at 3800 msl. Then after a few altitude-eating minutes of maneuvers, we were back down into the hotter air. In all though, having the tow plane back again was worth suffering the heat. It sure was good to see activity back on the field with a lot of interested pilots going for the skies. It looks like we've got our tow plane issues solved and hope that the coming weekends prove to be money makers for the benefit of the club's cash flow.

2. Peter Sahlberg was up first for a refresher flight and a renewal of solo privileges. He hasn't lost his fine skill at flying gliders and was signed off again. This time I think he'll be working toward his license since he's so close to it anyway.

3. Makynzee Balucas was out today for the first time, perhaps to actively pursue his glider license. His Dad, Mark, runs the Fresno Chandler Airport cafe, "Maks Landing", and it's a great place to eat if you fly into the airport. Mak, by the way, was the BMX National Champion in the 12 yr old class two years ago. Quite an honor for this young man. He did very well on his two flights and I fully expect him to move quickly to solo flight if he continues to come out to Avenal on a regular basis.

4. Chris Crescioli, a good friend and flying buddy of Morgan Hall, arrived to see what full scale gliders are all about. He has been flying hang gliders with Morgan for years and as we know from experience, those pilots make great soaring pilots with an uncanny knack for finding thermals and getting into them in great position. It would be nice to see Chris go forward and get his license. He did very well on just the one flight we had today but knowing how well Morgan did on his first flight, Chris will likely emulate Morgan's march to his license.

5. Bob Engellener is a long time member and now associate of our club. Bob used to man the starting gate for our contests. You may recall seeing him lying prone on his lawn chair, with binoculars pointed skyward, calling out the identification numbers of the gliders as they passed overhead. Of course those days are gone because of GPS and data loggers, but at the time, Bob was probably the best of those we've ever had working the gate as spotters. Today he brought out two friends of his, and his daughter, KC. The friends, Bri Arth and Curtis Beard, enjoyed the demo flights. Since they live out of town, we likely won't see them again, but it was nice to have met them and taken them up for a great view of the surrounding countryside.

6. Chris Karapostoles brought out another of his flying buddies, Charles Wickware, a fellow FA-18 pilot, who we hope decides to pursue his license in gliders. Charles flew with Alex in the Crush and had a good flight. Chris had to get back to Lemoore early but Charles stayed around and helped out when necessary. Maybe we'll see him again soon.

7. James Bishop was out today just to see the operations. He brought his two children out on June 6th for a demo flight for each. Brandon and Cierra had fun, especially with weightlessness. Today James just stayed involved and we hope he follows through on his plan to get his glider license.

8. Norm Lambert came out today to fly but decided not to because he didn't feel up to the task. That was a confident thing to do since we strongly encourage all our pilots to preflight themselves first, then preflight the glider. In this case, Norm traveled all the way out from east Fresno and might have been pressured into flying when he didn't feel up to it. But he made the smart decision and didn't fly. I applaud that and hope all our pilots are able to withstand the pressure and make a similar decision when it becomes obvious. Thanks for the good example, Norm.

9. Joe and Alex Caldwell, and friends, gathered around and helped assemble the GAPA for Alex next try at auto towing. They did pretty well getting up near 500 agl on the last flight. With more practice, it could go higher but not likely as high as 1000 agl. One must immediately snag a thermal, otherwise make a rapid turn around and land. This little glider has a glide ratio much like a pet rock. But once in the air, mostly by aircraft towing. it really is a lot of fun to fly.

10. Harlow and Chris Karapostoles did most of the towing today with Harlow getting the lion's share of the activity since Chris had to leave early. Both are getting better at towing, but we still need additional members and pilots to volunteer for towing on the weekends. And those of you who could tow during the week please get in touch with Dan Gudgel and let him know.

11. Bart Klusek drove down from Davis, CA, and flew the Blanik over the weekend. He sure is a determined pilot to drive that far, stay overnight and fly all weekend. We're happy to have him as a member.

12. Yutaka Buto, Richard Walker, Joe Anastasio, Ethan Ronat and Peter Sahlberg all flew today in various gliders at various times during the day. By day's end, we had accomplished 21 tows, a good number for the day and we look forward to maintaining that level for the remainder of the year. more info

1. It was an interesting day, as Morgan pointed out. It appeared to be one of those really good days if it didn't overdevelop. But later, it did, mostly over the mountains, yet still allowed Morgan and Mario to fly long flights, often without circling yet still going up near cloud base. Jack Wiegand introduced himself to Avenal again after a lengthy absence, flying out in his Piper Cherokee 140, N5541F. He had a nice day, in the hammock, punctuated by a flight aloft, then later on in the afternoon, a scramble to get off the runway at Avenal because the heavy rain threatened to make mush out of the normally rock-hard surface.

2. This is what Morgan Hall had to say about soaring today:

"Interesting day.  All sorts of weather to think about and work with.  We didn't complete our intended task which would have taken us to Taft, then Wasco, Visalia and Avenal.  There was a huge blue hole out in the middle of the valley and that was blocking progress to Visalia.  Mario was out front and turned back to the west somewhere near Wasco after turning Taft. I turned Taft and stuck to the better cloud street for the initial run NW, thinking I'd get a faster route  under better clouds. Probably didn't end up being the case, but since Mario aborted the task near Wasco it all worked out.

On the way back it was all about dodging the OD and running the cloud streets.  We ended up pretty far out into the valley, climbing at Westgate Farms and then heading NW to Huron. Mario took a final glide in to Avenal from there.  I topped out and turned the airport at Coalinga.  We saw you and Jack go by underneath us near Huron.  I called, but you must have been on a different radio frequency.

That's my longest flight yet.  Still can't quite keep up with Mario, but I'm getting better.

On Line Contest submission and pictures:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?flightId=-583544768

FlightToTaft  (photos and video I took during the flight)"

3. Julie Butler, Yutaka Buto, and Bart Klusek all took turns flying today in the 2-33 and the Blanik. Otherwise it was a bit of a slow day in spite of the great soaring conditions. Those who guessed the soaring wouldn't be too good lost out on high altitudes, strong thermals, and great scenery.

4. Ethan Ronat, a pilot for Skywest Airlines, came out to see what sort of things were going on at Avenal. He is an accomplished soaring pilot, glider flight instructor, and tow pilot. On our only flight in the 2-33 he performed exceptionally well, soaring to 7000+ msl from 2400 msl using tight turns and an experienced knowledge of thermaling. He'll be a good addition to our club if he decides to join one day soon. We look forward to that happening.

5. Richard Walker and Joe Anastasio were here today doing some much needed maintenance on the hangar and some investigative work on the failure of the golf cart. Seems Joe found the problem, now we need a part and we'll be back in business towing gliders around the field. Richard is working hard on the hangar getting it ready for our tow plane to reside in.

6. The rain kept threatening all day, moving in close but never really getting as far as the gliderport. Then, nearing 5 pm, the rain started falling, so lightly at first that it seemed no threat at all. But then it kept getting stronger so Jack and I headed in a hurry to get the Cherokee off the runway before we couldn't at all. We did get aloft, but later learned that the rain showing on the windshield of the Cherokee in one of the accompanying photos, stopped soon after and the remainder of the day was quite beautiful. more info

1. It was a fabulous day for soaring. Heights and strong thermals made the day one to remember, although we've been having these kinds of great days for the past few months. The weather patterns have really cooperated and the soaring has been excellent. Cool air aloft, strong hot sun on the ground makes for continuing thermal production and nearly everywhere in sight.

2. The main news of the day is that our newest tow plane, N4205U, a Cessna 150/150, arrived today for the start of towing and tow pilot checkouts. We were able to get at least three pilots checked out and that's a good start for the upcoming weekends when we need these pilots. It's an interesting aircraft, nicely equipped, well-maintained, and easy to fly. So we look forward to many hours of towing with this nice aircraft.

3. Julie Butler flew today in the Orange Crush, getting some experience in rough air and preparing for her check ride due within the next few weeks. We wish her luck in getting her Private License.

4. Connie and Bob came out today because Bob was giving his honey a surprise birthday gift. Connie didn't know about it even as she approached Avenal, thinking perhaps Bob was taking her on a tour of the prison. But, he turned right instead of left and pulled into the gliderport parking area. Connie finally got her chance to go aloft and loved every minute of it. She worked the controls slightly and did a lot of sightseeing. A nice present from a loving and thoughtful husband.

5. Jerry Smeltzer was back at Avenal today with his recently-purchased Nugget glider. Most of his time was spent getting familiar with the glider, the cockpit, controls, etc., all in preparation for his first flight. That's a good idea when getting into any aircraft one hasn't flown before. Several weeks of familiarization with the aircraft is worth the wait to fly it. Then when aloft, all the necessary control positions are remembered and the first flight isn't as stressful as it might otherwise be.

6. The fiberglass guys all went aloft today since the soaring was excellent. Mario, Morgan, Andy, and Jerry Badal who took some very nice photos from the cockpit of his Libelle. Good flying by all.

7. Cierra and Brandon arrived from Coalinga with their Dad and he was treating them to a nice glider flight. They picked a good day for the flight and both really enjoyed being up there. A few seconds of weightlessness made the time aloft even more memorable. Perhaps we will have instilled in them the desire to learn to fly and being so close to Avenal, the opportunity is there. We'll see how that develops.

8. Art Sanders, denied any time aloft last visit to Avenal, finally went up today and did well. He's an experienced student pilot from Illinois near where I went to school. He's really close to his check ride for the license and over the next few weeks perhaps we'll have him ready to face that exam.

9. Yutaka Buto had a chance to fly today, helping to checkout one or more of the new tow pilots. Yutaka is going to be a very good soaring pilot to complement his flights for Ameriwest in the Swearingen Metro hauling cargo. more info

1. What else can we say? No one flew because Loyal's tow plane was out of annual and we didn't know it until the day before. We had hoped to call in another tow pilot and plane, with J.R. being the best available choice. But his being here depended on the fog clearing at Oceano County airport, and by noon, it had not. A last minute call to him confirmed that he would not be flying to Avenal. So we were denied any flight today, much to the chagrin of many. Not deterred, most of the members opted to take care of things that otherwise would have had to wait until the flying was over. The Orange Crush got a much-needed washing and waxing. The GAPA was pulled out of its box and cleaned up, inspected and may return to service soon. That should be fun for those who enjoy sitting out in the open while soaring. The Blanik had its annual inspection completed by Mike Schoenau and Joe Anastasio.

2. Jerry Smeltzer bought a Nugget sailplane and brought it to Avenal today. A very nice looking ship and one that should bring Jerry many hours of fun flying and cross country attempts. Seems to be in really good shape and has very nice, smooth lines as it sits there looking like its already moving. We'll be watching Jerry when it comes time to fly it. So far, he's just making sure he gets really familiar with it before first flight. He always does well in the 1-26 and we expect him to do even better in the Nugget.

3. We had several pilots come from a long way off only to be disappointed at there being no tow plane available. Steve Schery came from the Bay area and Art Sanders came from the Newhall area. It is tough to come from such distances only to find out they can't fly. Next week should rectify that since Dan Gudgel will be bringing his Cessna 150 to Avenal for towing.

4. On top of all this, the soaring would have been excellent. The formation that was building all day over the Coalinga mountains was most impressive. We're not sure the source of the lift but it was definitely powerful compared to anything else around that day.

5. We did get a bit of training done with Julie Butler and Jack Wiegand, both of whom are nearing their checkrides and needed to brush up on the oral and flight procedures they can expect that day. Other than that, it was a slow day with a lot of waiting for something to happen. more info

 1. Chris Karapostoles brought a dathúil Irish Lad and a álainn Lassie out to Avenal for their first glider rides. Ken O'Leary and his sister, Jane, born in Ireland, brought here to brighten our land with their Irish smiles, had fun aloft. Ken is an FA-18 pilot at Lemoore (as is Chris), and Jane, who now lives in Orlando, was here just for a visit. Sorry, but I'm a pushover for that wonderful Irish accent. I could listen to it forever. I am a bit prejudiced, however, since my grandparents were born in Ireland. Back there in the auld sod, it was O'Gallagher without pronouncing the "g". Anyway, it sure was nice having them around and hope to see both of them back here again "before the devil knows they're here". It's an old Irish sayin', modified somewhat. :- ))

2. Chris had one launch, and even with the good lift, came back too soon. After we all pounced on him, he took off again and wasn't seen on the ground for a very long time, having himself one great flight. Good going, Chris. Ken O'Leary flew for about one hour off tow, did very well on tow, and familiarized himself with the in-flight maneuvers quickly. He promised to come back again soon, join the club, and earn his glider add-on rating. We'll hold him to it and expect him back again very soon. Jane also flew the glider, wasn't nervous at all, had fun, laughed a lot, and overall enjoyed the time aloft.

3. We had two other guests early this fine day. Jim Mellick and Dave Baxter drove in on their motorcycles, beautiful machines they were indeed, and went for their first glider rides. The lift wasn't too strong at that time of day but they enjoyed the experience anyway. It is possible they may be back to join the club and  work on a glider pilot's license.

4. The lift in the middle of the day was so turbulent that we had to stop all student flying for awhile. It was so rough that Yutaka had a rope break on his tow just about 200 ft. agl, and was able to return to the runway with no difficulty. Seems that the tow plane went through a very strong thermal and when Yutaka hit the same thermal it drove the glider so high so quickly he had no chance to release before the rope broke. That was the incident that prompted us to close off student flying. Later in the day, the rough air calmed a bit and we could resume student flying.

5. After most of the rough air had subsided, Julie Butler and I went up in the Orange Crush. She released in a very strong thermal and in no time we were hitting 6000 msl. After that we just roamed around the area looking for new thermals, every now and then returning to the "elevator" to resume  the heights she had achieved earlier. Her thermaling skills are really improving rapidly.

6. After Mario and Morgan had exhausted their searches for consistent thermals, enough to go cross country, Morgan returned to the area and thermalled with Julie and I for awhile, long enough for some good air-to-air shots (not the FA-18 kind) that turned out nice enough to show here. Morgan reported  reaching 9000 msl over the mountains, a nice height for the day, and Mario remained aloft longer than most.

7. Jerry Badal flew his Libelle in the mountains, up near Castle Peak and around the Black Mountain area, reached 8000 msl, and roamed freely in the area. He returned to earth, then he and brother David took the Blanik and headed aloft. They seemed to have been up all day but he says only about two and one-half hours and up to 8600 msl. He described the lift the same way as all of us were experiencing. Very strong in the same places all day, and deep sink in all the same places all day. Not organized at all and didn't encourage cross country soaring for most of the day.

8. The Blanik was also flown by Bart Klusek who traveled down from UC Davis to fly at Avenal.

9. Dan Solis and I went up in the Orange Crush to review some of the maneuvers in soaring. We finished early and returned to the field because the air aloft was getting worse by the minute. b and I will go again next time he's at Avenal.

10. On Sunday, a group worked on doing experiments with auto towing. They apparently got reasonably good at it using both the 2-33 and the 1-26. Heights weren't great but with no tow available from Loyal, that was the best alternative. Mario, Alex, Jerry, Morgan, and Julie all were figuring out how to get the best height from the limited towing by truck.

11. Later in the day, Morgan's Dad, Jim, brought friend Jennifer and her daughter, Brook, to Avenal. Jennifer is a CFI at Hawthorne in Los Angeles and maybe we can convince her to try her hand at soaring. Then again she might get hooked on gliders, leaving Hawthorne more often for glider ports in the Southern California area. And there are many.  more info

1. Nathan Bertoldi, a good friend and wonderful artist, brought a group of friends out to Avenal, first for his lady's birthday, and then just to be rewarded with a glider flight, something none of them had ever done before. Not only did they fly, but they partied, and slept and roamed around, and before all this, went into town to sample the world's greatest hamburgers at Debbie's. A fun-filled day to be sure and one that none will ever forget. Who knows? Maybe we'll see one or another of them return to take up the sport of soaring. Welcome to all of you: NATHAN, GERI, KABZAUG, CHATA, SHAUNA, NATALIE, AND DANIEL.

2. Here is what Morgan Hall said about the weekend: "It took work and a commitment to going over the back of Black Mountain into the Parkfield area where the clouds were at.  Alex made the jump early and got up, it took me a while to go for it and finally was rewarded with lift to 13000.  From there it was a pretty easy run to the South end of CA valley where I dove across to tag the turn point at New Cuyama.  Getting back was a whole different story.  I was late in getting there and westerlies had filled in.  I was down to 5500 East of CA Valley on the temblor range looking at hopefully making Blackwell or Lost Hills. Thankfully nabbed a thermal back to 8000+ and poked home as carefully as I could. Of course the Avenal effect was in full force and at 25 miles out everything was buoyant and although I could have sped home, I took it easy to ensure I made the glide.  Alex and I hooked up 16 miles east of Avenal at about 6:45 and glided almost all the way to Coalinga before turning around and returning to Avenal.  I think I landed at 7:15 after 5:51 in the air.  Alex landed shortly thereafter. Ramy and Matt out of Hollister flew all the way around Tehachapi and up to Mt. Whitney before gliding across the Sierra's.  Matt landed at Reedley and Ramy landed at Harris Ranch.  Amazing flights.     Morgan

My OLC trace: http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=828361

Alex's trace: http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=828829

 A few pictures that I haven't put comments on yet. http://picasaweb.google.com/morhall/Avenal516Weekend"

3. Alex Caldwell also had a great flight and part of it was with Morgan. Here's what Alex wrote: "We had some fantastic flying on Sunday May 17. Morgan Hall, Rich Miller and I were out there along with Paul Hanson. Morgan had been watching the Dr. Jack blip maps for several days and was predicting excellent soaring on Saturday, and even better on Sunday. Saturday was good, with a strong convergence way to the west of Avenal, between Parkfield and Paso Robles, and  marked by cumulus clouds. The guys from Hollister were running south on it at high altitudes over 12,000 ft,  but none of us could reach it from Avenal from a 2000 ft tow, so we spent the day from 4000-5000 ft. in weak lift, and never getting to the good lift in the convergence line. I had walked out of the house without my handheld radio, and my glider battery was dead, so had no communications, but Morgan generously loaned me a battery pack that would keep my PDA running long enough for a long flight. Sunday, however, produced an even stronger convergence (shear line) with a very high cloud base of over 14,000 ft.   The shear line was again way to the west of Avenal, between Parkfield and Paso Robles, but the general lower level lift in the area near Avenal was much better than Saturday. I got to 6000 ft over Castle Peak which was enough to get to the Shear line, which was again between Parkfield and Paso Robles. I was committing myself to landing either at Parkfield or Paso if I did not contact the shear. Not to worry, there was 10 kt lift under the clouds in the shear line. Morgan chose to go north towards Coalinga where the shear line was closer to the valley, which seemed a good choice and I thought about doing that also. But he eventually ended up coming back to the Castle peak area and contacting the shear in a similar manner to what I did a bit earlier. We both ran south once we contacted the shear and were quickly up into the 11500 - 14000 ft. working band. The clouds were lined up like a freeway going south. You could fly slowly and not lose any altitude, just slowing down in lift and speeding up in what little sink there was. I flew kind of lazily, not wanting to get low. But a higher X country groundspeed could be achieved by flying faster and then stopping to circle only in the very strongest areas of lift which were often 8-10kts. Morgan was a ways behind me because of his later start, but we met up over California Valley as I was coming back north and again at the end of the day near Blackwell and flew together for the last part of the flight and landed close to the same time. http://www3.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=828829

 The Avenal RASP made a very good prediction of the position of the shear line. This image shows the "Cu Cloud base where Cu potential is greater than O", for 1300 PST, or 1400 PDT.   Translated from "Dr. Jack speak", it shows where to expect Cu's and what the cloud base will be.  It corresponds almost exactly where the clouds were actually located and the cloud base was almost exactly what the RASP predicted. http://alcald.homelinux.org/RASP/AVENAL/2009_05_17/zsfclclmask.curr.1300lst.w2.png

 I also recorded these Satellite images from the U.S. Navy's  "NexSat" web site for the time frame between 1200 and1800,  so you can see how the shear line with it's fantastic cloud street developed that day. Some of the clouds marking the street were very small and wispy, so they don't show on these images.  It's an animated .gif, so if you view it in a web browser, it should cycle the images. http://alcald.homelinux.org/NexSat_2009_05_17.giF/ also uploaded some pictures of flying the shear line here: http://picasaweb.google.com/alcald/Soaring20090517     Alex Caldwell"

4. Everyone else had a great time on Saturday doing what makes Avenal the best gliderport in the West. more info

1. As the photo caption says, everyone had a really good flight today. The thermals were cracking-strong, the visibility was excellent, the clouds marked the lift which was often above 1000 feet per minute, and one could travel almost anywhere. A really great fun soaring day.

2. Morgan flew the ASW-20 for several hours, then turned it over to me for a nice flight, interrupted by having a student waiting on the ground. As I flew, Morgan and Julie took the Blanik and had fun as a couple, trading flying and photographing, going up above Castle Peak, then northwest of Coalinga, and just wandering around 15-20 miles from Avenal giving Julie an idea of what it is like to be that far away from the gliderport. They took most of the photos at the end of this story from the Blanik.

3. Early on, Julie went aloft in the 2-33 and after thermaling for awhile, and getting low, she headed back to the field. Entering the pattern, she snagged a thermal and went right back up out of sight. That was a great save and probably the first time she did that so successfully. From then on, she thermalled at will, and finally landed thinking that someone else might want to fly the 2-33. Great flight, Julie!!

4. We had a motor glider visit today. Actually is was the second time it showed up. Called a Lambada, it has a nice L/D, a quiet engine and might be a nice craft to have if one isn't interested in learning to go cross country via Mother Nature.

5. Our great friend, club member, corporate stockholder, and all-around superb soaring pilot over the years, Al Leffler, visited with his BRAND NEW Cubcrafter S2, the light sport version of Piper's venerable Cub. He was on his way home from the factory after having just purchased it. Wow, what a difference from the original Piper Cub.

6. This from Rich Miller:

Hi Harold,
Thursday, went north in narrow convergence over Reef ridge.  Avoided the trap of my previous Avenal visit when I followed the ridge north from Black Mtn to Priest Valley, saw clouds over the next ridge to the east, couldn't get to them.  Meanwhile, the convergence on my ridge evaporated,  and I landed in field a lovely Steinbeckian landscape.  Alex Caldwell and Joe Anastasio came and got me, then.  This time I went to the more easterly ridge, but again the convergence disappeared.  Had the Coalinga basin in glide.  But, couldn't make New Coalinga, then couldn't make Old Coalinga (lots of sink), and landed in a BIG greenish field (8" winter wheat, it turns out).  The retrieve was easier than from Priest Valley, but, on balance, I liked the Steinbeck country with  its nice fields better than the awful prospect of all the square miles of oil wells, pipes, and power lines around Coalinga.  Thanks to Richard Walker and Loyal Savaria for the retrieve.

Friday,  some high overcast, then overdeveloped.  Lots of lift in convergence lines that pointed every which way.  Stayed up quite a while, but never did figure out what was going on.  To 6.3K.

Saturday, towed to Black Mtn.  As usual, nothing there, returned to Tar Pk, where there had been some bumps.  Found lift E of the peak just S of Tar Canyon (Tar Pk South?).  Up and down a number of times, but couldn't leave the area.  Finally got to 6K.  By that time there were a few CU's north, east of Reef Ridge.  Got there against quite a bit of headwind, and got lift.  Then there were more CU's to the north, in a line to N of New Coalinga, ending in a big one.  Following this line generally worked, but the lift was never just where the CU's were, and the clouds changed their form seemingly with each circle of the plane.  Topped out at 8K.  Went to Harris Ranch, sink the whole way, and back to the wonderfully named Pleasant Valley State Prison,  still in moderate to severe sink.  Thought New Coalinga is looking better and better.  But, good lift at the prison, and all that tailwind, got me back to Avenal easily.  For the hell of it, went to S. Tar Peak, and once again got into the reliable elevator.  But, having convinced myself I could do it all again, went home and had a cup of coffee.  Total 3 hrs, quite pleasant flying.

Sunday there was much less lift, although on the ground we had a nice south wind and saw lots and lots of dust devils running through the fields to the west of the glider port, speeding to the north.  In the air, all this activity seemed to concentrate into one very reliable thermal to 5.3K half way between the big barn and the big tank.  This thermal DIDN'T MOVE, and in fact, hardly even seemed to lean downwind.  I rode this 4 times, and got bored.  Does anyone have a convincing picture of how the numerous fast-running dust devils become one very stationary thermal?

Best, Rich

7. Frank Owen and his fellow Engineering Prof from Cal Poly, Hemanth Porumamilla, better known as HP, were flying the Blanik and took a great shot of Jerry Smeltzer in the same thermal. At least, Frank thinks it was Jerry, although it may have been Jeff Lowe, or, someone else. Anyway the shot is excellent, thanks to a timely action. more info

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. more info

1. Great day to fly. Markers everywhere, lift strong, cloud base near 8000 msl and rising during the day, especially over the mountains. Only points out that we need another 2-33 and on some days like today, two tow planes and associated tow pilots.

2. Frank Owen brought the newest Mechanical Engineering Professor at Cal Poly out to introduce him to the wonderful world of soaring. Here is Frank's account of the day and his three-photo contribution:

The thermal switch was turned on in Avenal on Saturday.  I had two check-out rides with Harold in the Blanik before going up with a new colleague at Cal Poly, Hemanth Porumamilla, for a third ride.  And boy what a ride it was.  Lift everywhere.  Puffy clouds all over the place.  We were on tow to 2000 feet AGL, and Loyal dropped us off right under a cloud.  We actually didn't get lift right away but then it came, and came, and came.  We got about halfway between the airport and the hills and started going up, up, up.  We got into 4-5 m/s lift that kept going up.  There were plenty of flat-bottomed clouds, and we'd picked a good one.  Up to 6500 feet, right to the bottom of the cloud.  We would have gotten sucked up on into the thing had we not deployed the dive brakes and flown out from under it.  By this time, Hemanth was referring to the cloud as "that beast".  So we went on out over the Kettleman hills, just leisurely, just zooming through the sink and stopping for the lift.  We lost very little altitude and covered a lot of ground.  Who needs an engine?  We kept just floating around, burning up altitude back down into the 3000s.  Then back toward the prison, a little to the northwest of it, again an express elevator up.  We saw the 2-33 at our elevation in another thermal to the north of us, but ours was better.  We jumped up and saw the 2-33 abandon its thermal in favor of ours.  From the back seat lots of glee and again references to "that beast".  At 6700 we were again scraping the bottom of a flat-bottomed cloud that wanted us up in it.  Dive brakes, fly out from under the thing.  We felt like we had to come down to let people waiting have their chance.  So down we went.  Without the dive brakes, it was hard to go down.  What'll we do, find some sink and negatively thermal in it?  Harold never taught me that maneuver.  So it took a while to get down.  Over the IP we were still up in the 3000s, circling slowly and trying sometimes unsuccessfully to come down.  I told Hemanth, "Let's do a 360 and see how much altitude we lose in one circle."  So after 360 degrees were were 200 feet higher than we were when we started!  Too good to be true.  So finally we pulled the dive brakes and got down, despite all the attempts of Mother Nature to prevent us from so doing.  The result:  a great experience and the hook set in a prospective club member.

Frank

3. Morgan had a great flight in his ASW-20, over the mountains, and everywhere else. I think he was up more than three hours and had a wonderful flight.

4. Bruce McJunkin continues to prepare for his checkride, doing both flight and ground studying and training. He should be taking his checkride soon enough, when he feels comfortable with the oral portion and a few smoothing edges on the flight portion.

5. Mario enticed Morgan Hall and Don Van Wyk to go with him down towards California Valley. It was a nice flight, long and challenging, but good to get completely out of sight of Avenal. In the process, however, Don landed out in a grassy field, but Mario and Morgan managed to make it back to Avenal. Mario retrieved him but it took all day, so we didn't see Mario or Don for the remainder of the day.

6. Morgan and Julie brought one of Morgan's hang glider buddies to Avenal. Perhaps, like Morgan, Mike Simpson will decide that flying with Morgan at Avenal in a closed cockpit, and faster as well, will appeal to him more than hanging out, literally, beneath a fabric wing. Let's hope so.

7. Paul Hanson flew the 1-26 for his long flight, remaining aloft as long as he wanted and returning only so someone else could use the glider.

8. Jerry Badal and brother David used the Blanik to head over towards the mountains and, like everyone else, had a great flight, working the strong thermals, and going up as high as cloud base wherever they flew.

9. Jerry Keeler flew once today with Morgan, or Alex, I don't recall which. But Jerry has been out here before and seems to like the flights and the club atmosphere.

10. Julie Butler and Jeff Lowe traded flying the 1-26 all afternoon. Jeff also flew the 2-33 and both had rides they enjoyed.

11. Bob Stroup waited patiently all day long, in spite of my trying to get him aloft sooner. We launched in the Blanik trying to make it easier to not only get in the glider but to manage the controls. It seems that the Blanik is more suited to Bob's flight handling than was the 2-33. We'll continue to work with the Blanik with the hope that it will be easier for Bob to solo in it.

12. Mario finally got the Alby to Tehachapi on a great flight from Avenal. Here is what he reported and where the complete story is found.

13. Needless to say, it was great soaring all day long !!!!!!!!!!!!! more info

1. I appreciate the story provided by Morgan Hall who keeps providing so many other things for the club, we should be embarrassed by now that many others of us have been a bit lax keeping up with Morgan's contributions. Here is his story:

Hi Harold,

I figured I'd give you the recap of the day.  I will have to see what I can collect as far as pictures go.  I only took a couple, but my friend Mike came out and he took quite a few.  Maybe I can get him to put some on a jump drive and then I can sort them out and send a few your way. (And Mike did provide the pictures)

Saturday was a pretty busy day at Avenal.  We had a visiting pilot, Todd Robinson who normally flies out of Williams and Crazy Creek.  He came down with his ASW-20 to visit me and give Avenal a try.  Todd, my friend Charlie and I camped out in the clubhouse on Friday night for a little more social of a weekend.  Saturday morning was crisp and clear with calm conditions.  These filled in a bit out of the NE, but nothing like the winds seen in the previous two days with morning winds generally less than 10mph.  Alex's RASP maps were calling for lift in the 4-5 knot range and the top of lift at around 5000 in the valley and 7000 over the mountains.

By 10:00 people started showing up.  Jim Burgess, our officer of the day was present bright and early as was Alex.  Todd and I were busy replacing the Mylar on the horizontal stabilizer of GD.  While I soak and scraped my way through years of adhesive, Todd set up his ASW-20F, TR.  A nice guy by the name of Yutaka Buto came out to join the club.  I was busy cursing the fortitude of the adhesive on my stabilizer and didn't get his complete story.  From what Alex told me, Yutaka is a commercial pilot flying smaller transport and cargo runs from the Bay area to Burbank.  Hopefully we will see him out more regularly and get to know him as he is our newest member.  Later in the day he had a couple of flights with Alex and did great, taking the whole tow on the second flight.  Apparently he has a bit of time in gliders from years back, but is very solid.

Frank Owen and his friend Christoph from Munich came out in Frank's Cessna 150 and they went up in the 2-33.  Julie drove out a bit later and brought another friend of ours, Mike Simpson with the hopes of getting an introductory flight.  By noon we had light and variable winds and some dust devils rolling through.  Another potential club member came by.  Candice lives over in Visalia I believe.  She's retired and just a few months ago got her glider add-on down in Arizona.  She's looking to join the club and learn to soar.  Additionally, she is interested in towing.  We talked a bit before I launched, I hope she got the information she needs and will be joining us soon.

Frank and Christoph were the first to go up in the 2-33.  I'm not sure how high they towed, but they worked some light and disorganized lift, staying up for at least a 40 minute flight or more.  Steve took his Discus and disappeared for the rest of the afternoon. Julie flew the 1-26 and worked some lift for a few hundred feet but the non-round thermals gave her a bit of trouble and she came down all too quickly. Todd took the next tow and was surprised when Loyal took him off to the right instead of out towards the mountains.  Over town they hit a solid thermal and Todd released at about 1200agl which he quickly cored out and began working his way towards the mountains.  Bart was next up in the Blanik, launching around 1:30 or so and was doing very well.  I slipped in the launch line after Bart and took the next tow.  It was a bit rowdy down low, but there was at least lift.  After dancing with Loyal for a few minutes I released around 2700 to sniff out my own lift.

I quickly found the last thermal we'd bumped through and began to climb.  Nothing too strong, but solid all the way around at 2-3knots or so.  Bart and Todd were working in the same area and we all worked our separate cores up through 5000.  Todd headed to the mountains and Bart seemed to head toward the Kettleman hills.  Julie took another tow and last I saw was crossing underneath me on the way towards Tar Peak.  Todd and I worked toward Black Mountain, appreciating the legs that our ASW-20's offered. The lift in the mountains was a bit ragged, but a few climbs to 7000+ were possible, most topped out in the 6700 range.  Todd and I got separated and although I loitered for a bit, he eventually returned to the valley to head towards Coalinga.  I stuck to the mountains and had something of a repeat of last week's flight.  I pushed across Priest Valley and up the Diablo Range north of Coalinga to about 7 miles shy of Hernandez reservoir before turning and heading for home finishing with a 36 mile final glide from about 6600.  Todd made it most of the way to Coalinga, working lift along the highway to about 5k. From what I understand Bart continued to work and climb in the vicinity of the airport finally succumbing to responsibility and pulling the dive brakes in order to return the Blanik to Alex for more training flights.  He apparently found this "Avenal Effect" I keep hearing about and was only able to achieve about 3 knots descent with full dive brakes and a slip.  Too bad he won't get that lift back some day when he will really need it. Alex took Daniel Solis up for a flight in the Blanik.  I'm not sure if that was Daniel's first Blanik flight or not, hopefully he enjoyed it.

Late in the day, just after I landed, Mike Simpson got his first glider ride.  Mike is another hang glider pilot and did very well.  Alex put him into a late afternoon thermal and they climbed out to over 5000 after 5pm.  On the way down they did some stalls and slow flight.  Alex even let Mike land and it was a fantastic landing.  I joked that "Mike must be landing" because it was too nice of an approach and landing for it to have been a first timer.  The joke was on me.  Alex took another flight, possibly with Yutaka and then Bart took the last flight of the day and had a nice flight in the dwindling hours of daylight. Overall it was a nice day and everyone had fun and probably learned something new. more info

1. It was definitely a busy day today. Although we had two landouts, Mario landed out after nearly completing his goal of flying the Alby sculpture all the way to Tehachapi. The Alby, named after one of the greatest soaring birds of all time, the albatross, is seeking to be carried by glider all the way across the United States and back again. You can follow his adventures by linking to his website: http://albysvoyage.blogspot.com/2008/06/albys-story.html and see how far he's been traveling. He carries a spot satellite receiver/transmitter to have real time information sent back to his web site as he is being carried to the next destination. Here is Mario's story of his attempt to reach Tehachapi:

Hi Sergio,

I  had been watching the 3-day forecasts everyday and Saturday was looking good.  Driving to Avenal from Fresno the sky looked very hazy, without clouds, not your typical good looking soaring day.  We assembled early and I intended to be in the air about 1 PM. I was hoping I could get to Tehachapi early so I could fly back to Avenal.  The RUC forecast showed that at 2 PM conditions could be good in the valley. The two pilots who had flown on Friday said the forecasts had been too optimistic and where skeptical of this one.  However when Steve Schery got off tow around 12:30 he called that he was climbing through 5300' msl.

I took off at 12:46 and took a 2000' tow then climbed to 4600' msl in my 1st thermal and by this time Steve was at 7000'.  The day looked very promising.  I headed out toward the southeast, a little to the right of the course line at 1:08 with an altitude of 5900'. I wanted to check how the air was between the mountains and the valley. I found a thermal and went up to 5800'. And while cruising my netto showed we were in a convergence. Things were looking good and the forecast seemed to be right on.

When I found my next thermal I was going to turn toward the east and head for Tehachapi but I continued sinking and found nothing until I was down to 2000' agl with Begrudge off to the west. Here I climbed slowly back up to almost 3900' msl. This was beginning to feel like a day when you are in this area where  you have to stretch your glide to get away from the green fields and make it to the barren dry areas near Elk Hills. Once you make it past the fields below you head for Elk Hills for about 10 miles going SE keeping your left wing looking at green fields and the right one looking at barren dry ground. Usually you will find a shear line, and if not, at least a thermal along this line.  About 3 miles out I again was down to 2000' agl until I found a thermal and slowly climbed back to about 4500' msl.

The mountains 30 miles off to the S and E looked terrible and I decided to continue going SE to Buena Vista, a man-made lake about 3.5 miles long with a combination of bare hard ground to N and cultivated fields to the S and E.  Again, a shear is usually lurking here somewhere even on the weakest of days. I arrived at at about 2300' agl  and the shear got us back to 4000' msl.

We now headed E and glided about 6 miles to I-5 Freeway getting down 2500' agl. None of the fields gave any sign of lift and so I turned SE and flew down the freeway slowly losing altitude for about 4 miles until I finally caught a thermal where we crawled back to 2300' agl. While climbing I had noticed some small dust devils close together about 2 miles to the SW and went for them.  They got me back up to 2700' agl.

I then headed W again toward the 99 Freeway 4 miles away and climbed in a thermal to 3200 agl along the way.  At the 99 we only found a little bump so we continued on. At this time the air felt less buoyant. Looking at the NAM forecast after the flight it shows here is where I would be going into an area of reduced lift.  (I will have more respect in the future for NAM)  I glided down going to the ENE 10 miles toward the town of Arvin and landed there at the J and J Crop Duster strip at 3:27.

I looked at Bear Mountain looming down on me to the east with Tehachapi hidden behind it. I was 20 miles short, and I will have to try again.  Over the years it has always been a great adventure trying reach this goal. It is indeed possible. The 1st time was in my Blanik when I thought anything was possible, then the Nugget and the ASW20 when I knew better.

The crew at J and J were very friendly and hospitable, and I could not had made this attempt without the assistance of my crew, Don Van Wyk, who gave up a day of flying at Avenal where they were topping out at 8300' msl.

Mario

P.S. There is a possibility that Alby wants to spend a little more time with soaring ravens of Avenal.

2. The other landout was Rich Miller who, after touring the mountains north of Avenal all day, got low near Priest Valley and picked a nice pasture to set down his LP-49. Here are two stories of the day and the retrieve. First Alex's story of March 28 and 29:

Hi Harold,

I flew on Saturday with Jerry Keeler. He had ridden out to Avenal on his motorcycle to go gliding after seeing the website. He actually grew up in Avenal.  His father owned the Tomer  Drugstore, so he knows the area very well. He had flown in a Cessna a few times but did not fly at Avenal airport when he was growing up. He was most excited about viewing everything around and in Avenal from the vantage point of the glider. He said he wanted leave handling the controls to me this time, but he may try it the next time. We did get a good ride, with a climb to about 4800 ft. Then we caught a couple of other smaller thermals and stayed up about 35-40 min. I didn't have a camera with me to take his picture, I hope you got one.

Later, Joe Anastasio and I flew the Blanik. We had to work pretty hard for a while with 1-2 kt lift, but then worked our way back over the mountains and finally were able to get into the convergence zone where there was a long cloud street of  cu's developing heading northwest along the mountains. Once we got in that, we shot up at about 5-6 kts to 8400ft and then were able to follow the cloud street northwest to almost even with Coalinga, but we were further west than Coalinga, over the spine of the Diablos. We could go straight for most of the way without losing any altitude and only had to stop for the very strongest lift for 2-3 turns and would then be back at cloud base. At the end, we made a long glide down to Highway 41 and back to Avenal where we landed after a 2hr 10min flight.  I'm attempting to attach a screenshot of a Google Earth view of the flight trace that I uploaded from my flight recorder to the OLC. You can see how we had to circle a lot at the beginning, but once we hit the shear line and the clouds, we flew a long ways without circling very much at all. 

The other exciting event of the day was Rich Miller landing is LP-49 in Priest Valley. He took off early heading north. He hit the convergence and got to over 7000ft and was heading north along the spine of the Diablos. There were some early clouds starting to form along the convergence line and he saw some north of highway 198 as it crosses the Diablos. He was about 20miles west of Coalinga and realized he was not going to be able to make it to the clouds he had seen and still be able to get to a safe landing site if he did not contact lift. So he elected to land in the Priest Valley. I have flown over this many times but had not really checked it out from the ground. After Joe and I retrieved Rich, I can say there are quite a few fields there that will accommodate a glider, even the Nimbus. But there are cattle and barbed wire fences and wires in the area, so one would need to be very cautious, and have the ability to put the glider exactly where you want it.  But it is a reasonable place to mark as a potential landing area. Joe and I had just gotten the Blanik ready to fly when we heard Rich landed, so we naturally decided to take our flight and then worry about retrieving Rich after we landed. This meant we got of to a bit of a late start, but fortunately, we arrived in Priest Valley just before dark and could see the glider in the field by hwy 198 and then spotted Rich sitting in a folding chair the ranch family had loaned him. They also gave him water and some cookies.  We were able to drive Rich's trailer towed by Joe's truck right out into the field and disassemble the LP-49 in the dark with 2 flashlights. We then had a pleasant drive back to Coalinga where Rich bought Joe and I dinner at Perkos. The Perkos lady was closing but she felt sorry for us and stayed over a bit later to feed us. I hope Rich left her a nice tip.  The drive up 198 to Priest Valley was beautiful with everything green and wild lupine growing on the side of the road. It was quite cold up there once the sun went down, and I had neglected to take a jacket. However, lifting the wingtips on the LP-49 generated enough body heat to keep me from getting hypothermia. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera to record where Rich landed. But I can show you on Google Earth.

On Sunday, Bart Klusek came down from Davis. He had already soloed in the 2-33 and the Blanik, but it was extremely windy with crosswind from the right on Sunday, so we just did 2 dual 3,000ft tows to get some experience in the conditions for him. There was some 0 sink, but we were not able to climb. It was quite rough on tow. The wind was out of the North. There may have been some ridge lift by Tar Canyon, but we were afraid we might not be able to glide back into the very strong wind from there, so we didn't try it.  We thought we might have been able drift  backwards over the ground when flying into the wind,  it seemed that windy, but we were still moving very slightly forward over the ground with an indicated airspeed of 40 mph, so the wind was probably in the lower to mid  30 kt range at altitude.  Lemoore NAS was reporting steady 29kts wind  with gusts to 39 kts. It didn't seem quite that windy at Avenal.  There was a lot of dust blowing off several farm fields up by Coalinga.  Bart did very well handling the X wind take off and landing and got to experience the effect of the wind gradient,  which is accentuated as you get down low on final approach with the right Xwind at we had at Avenal, because of the turbulent wind coming over the trees and buildings along the right side of the runway.  He will be coming out again soon, and is ready to fly as often as he can and  make the push towards getting  his license.

Alex

Now for Joe Anastasio's narrative of the day:

Harold,

I feel pretty foolish for not taking pictures of the retrieve.  First of all, it was beautiful out there, secondly, it was kind of fun.
I'm sorry we got separated.  I had to stop for gas in Coalinga, a good thing I did too!.  He was 25 miles west of Coalinga in Priest Valley.  We kept driving, looking for that 72000 something address.  Watching the numbers I was shocked at how slowly they increased .  (Typical conversation, "Say Alex, that was 35032, what number did you say? 72000-what?)
He landed in the best field for miles around.  It was soft-had been disked prior to the rains, but firm enough for my pickup and the trailer.  We did have to use some plywood scraps I had from the last retrieve to get the glider up high enough to get it on the cradle.  Since it was past sunset when we got there, we worked by flashlight.  (Between us we had 2).  Alex was great.
This is the first retrieve that I actually got a steak dinner.  We got back to Coalinga around 10:00.  We found a Perkos that stayed open long enough to feed us.  I guess we looked pretty desperate.  We got back to the clubhouse around 11:00, I got home at 12:30.

Joe Anastasio

3. Yes, there were other people flying today. Two men traveling around the western U.S. decided to go for a demo ride. Steve Harris from New York City and Jamie Lipman from the United Kingdom arrived at Avenal hoping to go aloft. It took awhile because it was that busy here today, but we finally got them both aloft. Their flights weren't too long but enough for them to enjoy the time in the air.

4. Jeff Lowe, Jerry Smeltzer, and Julie Butler all flew the 1-26. Norm Lambert flew the 2-33 getting closer to his solo day, while Bob Stroup also flew the 2-33 working toward his solo as well. Julie and I flew the Orange Crush for a refresher flight and a renewal of her solo privileges. Morgan Hall flew the ASW-20 for several hours and arrived early evening. No problem since he and Julie were planning on staying overnight anyway.

5. Alex and Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik high and long, returning late afternoon in time to retrieve Rich Miller from Priest Valley. Steve Schery flew his Discus and was aloft more than four hours.more info

1. Late Friday afternoon, Dave Pilati and friend flew the Blanik out past the West Ridge. Ooopps!! Sink, no lift. So they headed in the same general direction as did Dave Johnson two summers ago, and it turns out they were only about a mile from where Dave touched down in the 1-26 on 9-2-7. It actually turned out to be a very nice area, with much room for disassembly. Trouble is, the Blanik is trouble ... to get the wings off. Took forever ... frustratingly so. Finally all of them returned to the gliderport some time after 1:00 pm, having left for the retrieve about 8:30 am. Then, assembly of the Blanik took so much less time than disassembly, and finally the sailplane was at rest in its tie down area.

2. Mario Crosina, our resident expert on Blaniks, assembled a crew and some tools and with Dave Johnson's four-wheel drive Chevy Tahoe they headed off into the mountains. Later on, Joe Anastasio and Richard Walker worried about the integrity of the trailer they used, and decided to hook up Richard's Schweizer 1-35 trailer to Joe's pickup truck and find the landout site. They did, and had enough material with them to strengthen the first trailer. They all got back safely and with no incidents on the highway.

3. Bob Stroup and I stayed behind to watch over the place, and do some training. Turns out the flat and the West Ridge weren't working but the Kettleman Hills were booming. Lift to 10 knots, heights to 7600 msl. Bob and I went up once, then I suggested Alex fly with Bob for some different approaches to teaching from Alex to Bob. They had a great time, and soared up over 6500 msl, highest Bob has been in his training cycle. Bob continues to work hard at getting to solo and progress is steady.

4. Karl Kunz arrived mid-afternoon in his Cessna 180 and after some prodding, he "reluctantly" agreed he probably should fly the 1-26. Here is what he told me in his email, along with the two photos he sent:

Harold, you left early so I missed you when I returned in the 1-26.  Thanks for pushing me to go soaring, it was a great flight. I had 5-10 kts lift and got as high as 7600' over the Kettlemans. The wind came up in the late afternoon which produced some beautiful lenticulars and got the tumbleweeds blowing. Here are some photos taken with a cell phone. See ya soon -

Karl Kunz

5. Chris Karapostoles came out again this weekend and flew two flights. Seems the strong lift hadn't yet begun so he didn't stay up too long. And he took only two flights so perhaps next time he'll be here when the thermals trigger strongly.

6. I'm not sure whether the crew that retrieved the Blanik did any flying today. It was mid-afternoon when they finally got the Blanik assembled, then headed for lunch at Debbie's. If they did fly, the lift was still good over the Hills and they might even have gotten into the wave that blew on into evening.  more info

1. You may recall that two weeks ago Chris came out to Avenal from Lemoore NAS for the first time and took a demo ride. He liked it, and decided to join the club and work for his commercial add-on rating for gliders. So he came back today and we were able to get all the maneuvers done in three flights at which time I felt very comfortable allowing him to solo the 2-33. He is quite competent in the glider probably as a result of his training in the Hornet (very similar to the Orange Crush, of course) and the other ratings he's accomplished over the past few years. CONGRATULATIONS, CHRIS, AND AFTER A FEW IN THE 2-33 YOU'LL BE ELIGIBLE FOR FLIGHT IN THE 1-26.
2. As you can see from the photos, it was a wonderful soaring day and no less than nine high-performance sailplanes were in the air this afternoon. Include the three club ships, and we had all of them aloft all afternoon. It was a great sight to see so many of those beautiful gliders thermaling or just sailing by at great speed. Some came back early, others kept flying until late in the afternoon. Jerry Badal got low near Coalinga and made an excellent landout, choosing to pick his field before he desperately needed to and land perfectly safe, in a mostly smooth field and had his retrieve crew there in no time. Here is what Jerry told me in his email the next day:

"Harold,

Sorry I missed your call.  I've been in meetings all day. In answer to your question, yes, I did landout on Saturday.

After a tough, and painfully long, climb from a 2,000 foot tow release altitude, I finally reached 6,400 feet right at cloud base and hooked up with David Pilati.  A few minutes later Mario, who launched after me, joined us and the three of us headed north, toward Coalinga.  We made it to Coalinga, stopping several times to climb along the way.  Most of the time I stayed between 6,400 and 4,500 feet as Mario drew farther away in the distance and higher above me.  On the last stretch to Coalinga, however, I dropped down to around 3,200 feet, trying to keep up with Mario and David, who were both flying more efficiently than I was.

Just south of Coalinga Mario and David stopped to climb in a thermal.  When I reached them, I couldn't connect with the same thermal.  I had passed good lift a few minutes earlier, so I turned back to the area where I had experienced the lift, but again, could not connect with anything.  I eventually did find lift, but it was broken and weak.  I would circle in 300-400 ft/min lift for a third of the circle and then be in sink the rest of the way around.  I gained 50 feet, then lost 100.  Over time, I was slowly losing altitude and getting lower.  I left the weak lift and flew a pattern over promising looking areas to try to find lift, but ended up losing more precious altitude.  I was eventually down around 2,800 feet and over rough foothills.

I decided it was time to start looking for a place to land and flew north toward some nice cultivated fields just south of Coalinga.  I reached the fields at 2,100 feet and flew over them for a few minutes to pick out the best one.  Ironically, I found some lift as soon as I committed to landing.  I took one turn in lift, but decided that at this point, I should stick to my plan and focus on a safe landing.  If I'd had more flying experience and it were later in the season (meaning I would have had more time in my Libelle), I would have tried for a save.  As it was, I decided to not take the chance.

I flew over the field a couple times to make sure there were no pipes or other debris on the field and landed.  The landing was totally uneventful and routine.  For my first land-out away from the home field, I chose a really big field.  I could have landed in any direction and been fine in such a big field.  As it was, I landed right where I wanted to land and rolled to a smooth stop with no drama.

David Pilati flew over me in his 1-35 and took my position off his GPS.  He called me on the radio and told me he'd head back to the field for my truck and glider trailer.  A couple hours later, David and Andy Reistetter showed up with the trailer and helped me put the glider away.

We went to dinner that evening at Harris Ranch.  I bought dinner for David and Andy.  Don Van Wyk and Mario joined us and we enjoyed a great evening together as Mario kept us all laughing at his glider stories.

Overall it was a good learning experience for me.  I now know not to follow better pilots to the point where I'm well below the lift band.  And I learned that landing in strange fields is manageable if you pick your field early and don't wait until things become desperate to begin planning your landing.

Oh, one more thing.  The truly ironic thing about my land-out was that not 20 minutes after climbing out of the glider there were birds circling all around me.  Within 30 minutes of landing I had a huge and beautiful cumulous cloud directly over my head.  I mean directly.  You could have dropped a plum-bob from the center of the cloud to the center of my glider.  Within 40 minutes there were nice clouds all around me and all I could do was sit on the ground and watch the birds thermaling higher and higher.  Oh well.  It was still fun."  [See the last photo on this page.]

3. Jeff Lowe also flew the 1-26 twice today and had two nice flights. He's getting close to working on his license and will have to be switching to the 2-33 soon because that's what he'll be taking his checkride in.

4. Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik, up as long as he wanted, enjoyed his return to Avenal for the first time in over a month. He was refueling the reactor at Diablo Canyon (well, not him exactly, but close enough) for the entire month and was glad to get back into soaring.

5. Bob Stroup was here today as well, learning more, getting better at controlling the glider on tow as well as off. We're going to work hard at seeing him solo on his next birthday if at all possible. Stay tuned.

6. After the CCSC Board meeting, the members headed out to their gliders as part of the group of twelve that were aloft all afternoon. It was a fun day for everyone, even for those on the ground who were content with watching gliders all over the sky, back and forth, north to south, and returning. I hope all of you around the world who watched the activity on the field video cameras enjoyed the day as well.

7. Michael Savaria provided his usual excellent assistance for all the glider pilots, hooking them up, running the wing, conveying messages to his Dad in the tow plane, and just being an awfully nice guy to have around. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP, MICHAEL, FROM ALL OF US.  more info

1. Approaching Avenal from Fresno I was impressed by the sky and clouds in the distance. Beautiful white, puffy, cumulus clouds, deep blue sky, warm sun, and light wind. Seems like a recipe for great soaring. And indeed it was. Everyone who came out to Avenal had a great flight. Most of the high-performance sailplanes were aloft over 4 hours and some over 5 hours. It was hard to make oneself come down from that wonderful scene because in order to lose altitude you had to open the dive brakes and stick the nose down. Otherwise the lift kept you up almost wherever you flew. As you can see from the photos, it was a classic, picturesque day, one for the painters and their canvases.

2. Alex Caldwell was out early, knowing in advance the soaring would be great. He didn't know how beautiful the sky would be but that was just the icing on the cake. He assembled and was aloft in no time. I believe he was up over 5 hours and probably could have been there 6 or 7 hours.

3. Mike Savaria had a friend visit him, named Glen Cannon (Glen Canyon?) who lives in Eureka, CA. He had driven down for the weekend to visit with Mike and Loyal and was driving back on Sunday. He wanted a nice long flight, "no matter what the cost". So, up we went as the first sailplane aloft (sniffer). Indeed we found lift everywhere, with cloud bases at 5000 msl early in the afternoon, just past one o'clock. And up we stayed for about an hour and twenty minutes. He wanted to go again after my students so we set off the second flight for a few hours. Later on, the lift started going away as early as 4:15 pm and Glen decided to come back again another day, a good decision considering he already had a nice long flight to remember.

4. Jerry Smeltzer flew the 1-26 and was up for well over an hour, up over 5200 msl, and came down only because he thought someone else might want to use the glider.

5. Mario Crosina and Jerry Badal arrived together, assembled their gliders, and both launched within a few minutes of one another. Again, both pilots were aloft nearly five hours, and the only thing that brought Jerry back was a high speed dash for the gliderport, prompted only by the lack of any more bladder capacity. He made it, although he left his glider on the runway as he ran for the bathroom.

6. Doug Staudmeister took the Blanik and went aloft just about 1:00 pm. I left at about 4:40 pm and Doug was still in the air. Here's what Doug had to say:

"Great day as you mentioned.  Up for about 4 hrs, max alt 5200' MSL, spent most of the day between 3500 and 4500, max lift 400 fpm (most thermals were 100-200 fpm), ventured about a mile south of 41/33 along Reef Ridge before working my way back upwind along the western edge of the Kettleman Hills.  Shared a few thermals with the Glass Pack (Mario, Jerry and Alex); the Blanik held her own in the climb but was no match when they sped off to the next thermal.  Practiced entering/exiting thermals, speed to fly between the cumulus, straight/banked stalls, slow speed flight (worked the smaller thermals with 1/2 flap)".

7 Stephanie Southworth is a Kings County Deputy Sheriff who came out to the gliderport on her break. She talked to me about glider demo flights and after the conversation she called her Mom in Exeter and told her to come out to Avenal right now, for a demo ride. Not too much later, Mom-Cherri and Dad-Steve, arrived on their Harley's. Steve almost decided to take a flight but at the last moment thought Cherri should do it alone. So, up we went, and Cherri had a nice time aloft, not particularly interested in anything other than some sightseeing in a very quiet environment. After that, they rode together back home and who knows if we'll see them again any time soon. But perhaps they'll get the bug and come back for more. We hope so 'cause they seem like really nice people and excellent prospective club members.  more info

1. We welcome Chris Karapostoles, a FA-18 Hornet pilot from Lemoore NAS. Chris did his first instructional flight in a glider and did exceptionally well, handling most of the flight with no difficulty. I expect Chris to move quickly to his Commercial add-on rating. His aviation experience is quite varied having flown or made ratings in a variety of aircraft from helicopters to seaplanes. He attended Annapolis, the Naval Academy, and is currently stationed at Lemoore. So he's nearby and can get to the gliderport with ease.

2. Bob Stroup continues his training, moving closer to the day when he's back in the air solo. His limbs seem to be up to the challenge getting more movement each time we go aloft. He needs no encouragement because he has become a devoted soaring fan. Watch his progress over the next few months.

3. Norm Lambert was on hand again, continuing his training, getting ever closer to solo. Just smoothing out a few rough edges and he'll be ready. Norm is certainly dedicated to achieving his Pilot's License and we are going to help make that dream come true.

4. Daniel Solis keeps his skill set current with continuing flight activity. Today he was scheduled to fly the 1-26 but opted instead to fly the 2-33 since it was already preflighted and out on the launch line. Daniel is a fine pilot who will excel at almost anything he attempts. We're happy to have him as one of us in the Club.

5. Doug Staudmeister was on hand today, not to fly, but to go over the knowledge material in preparation for his oral exam that is not too distant in the future. With a few practice flights, and more oral prep, Doug will be ready to take the Private Pilot check ride for his add-on rating. He's already made some pretty long flights in the Blanik and does well at thermalling.  more info

1. A gray day to be sure, but fun anyway. Not too many showed up but those that did are part of the faithful that seem to be there regularly. And some in training heading for solo or for their licenses.

2. Norm Lambert continues his quest for his solo rating. It should be soon since we have very little left to accomplish according to the FAR's and his skill level. That day should be fun for all of us.

3. Julie Butler was soloing in the 2-33 from the far end, which I believe was the first time she had taken off in that direction, nearly over the clubhouse, close enough to keep an eye on her. Who can blame us??

4. Jeff Lowe flew the 1-26 early, then flew with me for a refresher flight later on in the 2-33. He was a bit rusty on the maneuvers but that happens to all solo pilots without periodic reminders from a flight instructor. Later, when those maneuvers are embedded in their skill set, the rust takes much longer to set in. When Jeff and I flew, there was a wave aloft as evidenced by the  two long rows of lenticulars shown in the photo of Jeff keeping the wings level.

5. Morgan Hall came out specifically to work on his ASW-20 and did so all day, earning a sore back in the process of leaning into the cockpit too long at a time. But he made the insides of the glider as good looking as the day it arrived from the factory. Thanks, Morgan.

6. Bob Stroup flew with me and continues to improve his skills. His left foot, once thought to be useless on the rudder pedals, found new life and can actually move the pedal nearly as strongly as the right foot. Now that's a great form of rehabilitation. Let's keep that going and maybe soon his left arm will gain back it's lost strength. Don't bet against him these days.

7. Daniel Solis went flying today in the 1-26 and just maintained his currency, rather than any sort of intense training. He's recovered from his cloud encounter and feels good about what he learned.

8. Richard Walker was here today as well but didn't fly, just worked around the clubhouse improving the appearance and fixing some items that needed attention.  more info

1. As you can see from the photos, it was a very convective day. Widely scattered rain showers didn't affect our soaring too much. Once in awhile we'd get a little rain over the field but most of the time, the rain missed us. The various cumulus clouds gave us moderate lift strength underneath and occasionally moderate lift between the clouds. It couldn't have been more picturesque for soaring above and around the magnificent cloud forms. Every so often the clouds would overdevelop but even with that, the lift didn't go away appreciably. The fiberglass sailplanes were up as long as they wanted to be, or their bladders could hold out. The students who flew were very satisfied with their performance and the amount of time they could stay aloft. And at the end of the day, the sun and clouds made for spectacular sunsets that changed each minute, making photography both satisfying and somewhat frustrating because every minute there would be another great shot to take and store. I've included here only a fraction of the sky scenes I took near the end of the day. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.

2. Morgan Hall and Mario Crosina flew their racing sailplanes, staying up quite long, well over two hours and likely could have remained aloft all day. The only difference was that cloud bases were low enough to keep them from getting higher but still could easily go from Avenal to Coalinga to 41/33 intersection and back again while losing only a small fraction of the altitude they gained.

3. Alex Caldwell found the 1-26 idle after my sniffer flight so he decided to go aloft and check it out for himself. Like the rest of us, he found good lift, stayed up awhile, and came back in time for Julie to fly the 1-26.

4. Julie Butler also flew and was aloft at the same time as Morgan. They flew together for some time and I was able to photograph them together from my ground location. Some of the shots of Julie appearing high above the grandeur of the cumulus formations were definitely keepers. Julie did very well making sure she had all the lift needed but remaining clear of areas where she might have been sucked up into the base of a cloud.

5. Daniel Solis also flew the 1-26 and had a similar flight to Julie's. But he got a bit too close to cloud base accidentally and found himself in more cloud than he anticipated. He reacted as he was trained to do, and was able to get to the side in the clear where he found even more lift that took him up to the highest altitude of the day, at 5400 msl. I'm sure he now has the greatest respect for the increasing strength of lift near cloud base and how easy it is to misjudge one's distance from murky clouds.

6. Thanks to Morgan having assembled and flown the ASW-20 earlier in the day, and urging me to take it aloft, I did fly in mid-afternoon "and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air" (J. G. Magee, "High Flight"). Most of the time I just sat there in the air-tight silence of the sailplane's cockpit in wonderment at the awesome scenes everywhere around me. If you've never experienced such beauty and breathtaking vistas then you must investigate flying in a glider on these types of days. I never got very high in altitude but I got more than high in mind and emotions.

7. Late in the day, Morgan installed another video camera to be pointed at the launch end of the gliderport where most of the activity takes place. However in doing so, and so late that it was quite dark, something occurred when hooking it up to the computer and the Internet that disabled one of the cameras. That should be fixed next time we are at Avenal. For the time being, the camera pointing northwest will have to do.  more info

1. The turnout for our Annual Meeting was the best we've seen in years. There were a total of 38 people on the field, most of whom were club members there for the meeting. No need to go into details. The President will probably formalize the notes from the meeting and we'll post them here in subsequent pages. Thanks to everyone for showing up at our Meeting.

2. Morgan Hall enjoyed his first flight in the ASW-20. Right after the meeting he began assembling it and with Mario's input, he got quite a few lessons in the assembly and operation of that glider. For those of you who recognize it as my glider, Morgan Hall is now an equal partner in the glider and I am really happy to have him fly it and help maintain it. Since I rarely get to fly solo, it didn't make much sense owning the glider alone. And when Morgan decides to fly it, and assembles it, I will likely have a better chance at flying it than I might have otherwise. Morgan's takeoff was smooth, no significant oscillations and he remained aloft much longer than I thought possible with the very weak conditions. Finally he reappeared and his first landing was smooth and uneventful. He did acknowledge getting quite a kick out of flying it. No doubt it's a huge difference from the 1-26 or the Blanik. I am looking forward to flying much more this season knowing the glider will already have been assembled and ready after Morgan is finished flying for the day.

3. Grandpa Nunez brought his grandson, Noah, out to Avenal again today. You may recall he was here on January 17th for Noah's first glider flight. Today, Francisco brought his wife, Yolanda, to Avenal for her first glider flight. She really enjoyed the thrill and the smooth quiet of glider flying.

4. Jeff Lowe flew the 1-26, and like most of us today, didn't find much in the way of positive lift, other than some zero sink. But at least he flew and stayed current. I expect Jeff will pursue his license with fervor now that the weather is beginning to clear up with spring thermals on the horizon.

5. Peter Sahlberg flew the 1-26 as well, found no lift, and returned no quite disappointed. For the remainder of the day, Peter stayed around and like a good club member, helped out those on the launch line who needed assistance.

6. Julie Butler flew once with me to review her skill set. She did quite well especially boxing the wake, a maneuver most students don't practice by themselves, so they get rusty and a bit sloppy when asked to perform it. But Julie surprised me with her competence on the task. The rest of the day she spent photographing her honey, Morgan, who was intent on the ASW-20 and hardly noticed anyone, except perhaps Mario Crosina, who was there from assemble to first flight and disassembly. Morgan and I really appreciated the time and effort Mario put in to help out with this important event.

7. Bruce and Polly Patton arrived in their RV-6, a beautiful aircraft that Bruce built himself. We haven't seen Polly for many months so it was nice that she could accompany Bruce to Avenal.

8. Harlow Voorhees brought his son, Tom, and friend, Tavar Zawacki, out to Avenal for some time in the Blanik. First, though, Harlow needed some refresher flights and we did three, including a rope break at 200 agl. Then Harlow took Tavar up first, and when the returned Tavar had quite a smile on his face. Harlow's son, Tom, an excellent pilot himself, took his turn in the Blanik and it would be nice to see Tom come back and earn his add-on rating. Harlow thinks that might be possible so we'll be looking for them both sometime soon.

9. Bob Stroup came out to Avenal with me this morning and by mid-afternoon he was ready for his two flights. Bob is determined to get his glider add-on rating and based on his performance to date, I'm sure he will. If it was up to him, he'd be flying seven days a week just to get it done. Perhaps we can accelerate his training cycle a bit more than just on Saturdays.

10. Luke Owen went up with me for a nice flight. Luke took the controls in flight and did quite well, handling the stick smoothly and confidently. If he decides to get his license, I have no doubt he could do it with no difficulty.

11. Paul Hanson went up for a short flight, again because of the almost nonexistent lift everywhere in the area.

12. Steve Schery and Frank Owen flew the Blanik with the same result. Nice smooth flying, no good lift. But spring is nigh upon us and that means vertical development, with booming thermals.

13. Kurt Colvin and friend flew to Avenal in separate aircraft. I know Kurt's was a Husky and I think the other aircraft was the same. Not sure, tho.

14. Daniel Solis arrived for his weekly flights in the 1-26. He's still enjoying the great feeling of transitioning from the 2-33 to the 1-26. But one of these days, we'll have to get him back into the 2-33 in preparation for his Pilot's License.

15. Stay tuned. We may have a second camera installed to show all of the launch area all day long. That's really where the most action is during our busy days. The current camera will still be in use but pointing slight to the right where it's null position will be pretty much towards Black Mountain.  more info

1. For those of you who joined the CCSC and began your flight training before 8-30-08, take note. That's the day Morgan joined and today he's our newest Private Pilot. So, it can be done in just a few months and Morgan proved it for all our other students. All one needs is: money, time, dedication, discipline, and a partner like Julie Butler who is competing for her own license and breathing down your neck weeks on end. All that helps and all we can say is: CONGRATULATIONS MORGAN, WELL DONE !! By the way, he also scored a 97% on his written exam, a bit of an overachiever I confess, but his success should be an inspiration for our other students who need to get moving towards their own licenses

2. Hi Harold, ... I thought I'd send this picture of Virgilio Tayong from Fresno in the 2-33, in case you want to use it on the web page. He came out late on Saturday with some of his family after you left, but it was too late to fly. They had gotten lost on the way over and the sun had just set when they arrived. His daughters Cori and Marilyn had wanted to buy him a glider ride for his 71st birthday. I felt bad that they got there too late, and he really wanted to fly, so I agreed to meet them there on Sunday. Virgilio came out with daughters Cori and Marilyn and her husband Sunny. Virgilio went up first. The others were a bit apprehensive, but Virgilio loved it. So then Cori decided to go up, we got a little bit of zero sink for a short time on both flights. ... Alex

3. 3. Pete Suddjian drove out to Avenal with me on Monday and went flying. Pete's been a power pilot for many years and we belong to the same organization I had given a presentation to a few weeks earlier. He decided to see what our club was all about and did quite well on his first flight in our 2-33. Perhaps Pete will join our club and get his add-on rating. He'd make a fine club member and would join Bob Stroup and I on our journey to Avenal on Saturday mornings.  more info

1. The wonderful story is that Bob Stroup used to fly hundreds of hours every year. He owned several power planes, most notably a P-210, a pressurized Cessna single engine, six-place aircraft. But somewhere past, he had a stroke and that cost him his flying, and his driving. He thought, as he probably was right in thinking, that his flying days were over. But, January 9, I gave a presentation to a group of high-time power pilots and Bob was there. I guess it was the first time he realized that, just maybe, soaring would be his path to flying again. So, today, Bob drove out with me to Avenal, and indeed, he flew again from the front seat of the 2-33. I can assure you he did well, doing all the four fundamentals of flight in a smooth manner. He wasn't at all afraid of steep turns even though he had virtually no prior experience in flying engineless aircraft. He was smooth on the controls, not hesitant to fly the glider from the moment of release until touchdown. And the second flight he took much of the tow, making mistakes like any new pilot to the idea of being on tow behind a power plane. His landing the second time was unassisted from about 50 feet on down to a touchdown which he accomplished with the dexterity he probably had when he was flying power planes. So we hope he continues his training in gliders and soon will fly again, solo, in the bluest of skies. Yes, he has some limited use of his left leg and left arm but we can overcome that with clever ideas and his persistence, of which I have no doubt he possesses. Oh, and just a side note; he said he scored a double header today. He flew for the first time in years, and drove for the first time in years. Right away, as soon as he got to Avenal, I had him driving the golf cart and towing the gliders to the launch area. Yes, he did fine, and we might just make him the Official Driver of the Avenal Golf cart. NASCAR has nothing on Bob.

2. Steve Schery arrived from the Bay Area just for one flight. He didn't spend much time at Avenal before heading back home to the peninsula. Before he left, however, he did sniff for us and reported back on the absence of lift.

3. Joe Anastasio was here today doing some work on the gliders and just generally having a nice time in the warm sun. I don't know whether he flew but if so, it would have been in the 1-26.

4. Jerry Smeltzer came out today and flew the 1-26 reporting he found no lift at all. That pretty well jibes with what others found in their searches. But there were some weak (50 fpm) thermals over town that cycled on and off.

5. Francisco Nunez brought his grandson out to Avenal for their first glider rides. Francisco lives in town at the east end, and Noah Nunez, five years old, lives in Lemoore. Noah was up first and after piling the seat cushions high enough, we strapped him in and launched. He did well, enjoyed the scenery and most surprising of all, he directed me to his grandpa's house, recognizing it from the air. Not too many people could have done that. I was a bit skeptical it really was the right house until I took Grandpa Nunez aloft and he confirmed it was his house. They both really enjoyed the flight and Francisco assured me he would bring Noah back another day soon. We'll look forward to having them both here at Avenal, even if just to watch the flight operations and enjoy the members who are present.   more info

1. Somehow Daniel Solis likes doing his first solos late in the afternoon so that by the time he's done, darkness has settled in. It was the same with his solo in the 2-33 and again for the 1-26. But in both cases Daniel was nice enough to put off his flying solo until someone else had completed their flights. Actually late in the day is a nice time to solo because most of the turbulence has subsided and the air is smooth aloft. Daniel did well as I expected him to and now he is able to solo both the 2-33 and the 1-26.

2. Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik this afternoon and finding only a little lift, still had a nice time aloft. And, he was maintaining currency in all the club's gliders, something all the members should do during the year.

3. After having achieved a 97% on his written  test, Morgan Hall is now close to his checkride. So today, we did the required three practice checkrides and the next step will be for him to schedule time with Dan Gudgel for the license. We look forward to Morgan getting his license, an accomplishment that I hope all our club students can strive for in the early months of this year. I know it is tempting to just continue on as a solo pilot but if you have soloed and have achieved a substantial amount of flight experience, then the logical next step is to prepare for, and get your Private Pilot's License.

4. Julie Butler flew the 1-26 as she continues to stay close to Morgan in her quest for her Private Pilot's License. With the two of them working together and being together it makes the task much easier for both. If you are a student pilot and not necessarily inspired to work on your license, get someone close to you, friend, neighbor, family member, relative, to sign up in the club and begin their project towards their license. Working together is most serendipitous with each pushing the other, and studying together.

5. Jeff Lowe is also about at the progress point where Julie Butler is and they might consider working together on the study portion of the written exam. Or Morgan could counsel them both because of his high score on his written exam. Either way, both Julie and Jeff could be the next after Morgan to get their licenses. That would be just great for them and for the club.

6. Just another beautiful day at Avenal. The lift wasn't so good, but the clear sky, warm sun, and good camaraderie all make for enjoyable Saturday afternoons.   more info

1. Scott Naumann flew here in his Cessna 180 and brought along his friend Tom Ronay. Scott joined the club, checked out in the 2-33 and took Tom for a few launches. Scott is a long time glider pilot and flight instructor who also happens to be a pilot on the 777 for United Airlines based at SFO. We welcome Scott and Tom, and perhaps as things go forward, Tom might also join the CCSC. WELCOME TO THE CCSC, SCOTT !!

2. Morgan Hall and Julie Butler were here today as they have been visiting regularly for the past few months. Morgan was flying the Blanik more in anticipation of his moving up into the ASW 20. Julie didn't fly but had fun helping Morgan get launched, and just being around the field.

3. Joe Anastasio was working on the maintenance issues as well as flying the 1-26. Not much lift but most of those who launched did so into a very clear sky with views in all directions. Joe, like the rest of us, enjoys even a non-lifting flight. What's the saying? "A non-lift flight in a glider is better than an hour in a power plane." Or something like that.

4. Daniel Solis came out, flew a few flights, and stayed around to help out others in their launches. Daniel will likely be soloing the 1-2 soon since he has been gaining experience with multiple solos in the 2-33.

5. Jerry Smeltzer came out to see what was happening but decided not to fly based on the lack of lift available. I guess he's never heard of that saying quoted in (3) above.   more info

1. Hanna Marlette came back from the Air Force Academy on leave for the holidays and was moved to visit us here in Avenal. She looks great so I guess the discipline and hard work at the USAFA is good for her. She managed to overcome some virus attacks (the medical kind) and isn't any the worse for wear. She flew the 2-33 today with me and hasn't lost any of her glider flying skills. Back to the USAFA she goes on or after January 4th and again we wish her great success in her future at the Academy.

2. Jeff Lowe's friend, Chris Gray, had some previous power training some years ago but has never flown a glider. So today, he had his first introduction to hanging on to the stick while on tow, and working hard with his feet on the rudders off tow. I think he'd do well if he decided to take up the sport and might be nice for he and Jeff to travel together to Avenal on Saturdays.

3. Morgan Hall and Julie Butler decided to build a concrete pad for one of the gliders and that's the first order of business for each of them. As we said before, neither Morgan nor Julie let anything stop them from making great contributions to our club and its facilities. Thank you both on behalf of all the CCSC Club Members.

4. Jeff Lowe went aloft twice in the 1-26, had fun, didn't set any duration records but enjoyed the unlimited visibility and the smooth air. It's a good time for everyone to practice maneuvers to see just how well one can perform them in the absence of bumpy air. Maneuvers like boxing the wake, steering the tow plane, straight and turning stalls, MCA, steep turns rolling out on predetermined headings, forward slips to a landing, etc.

5. My son, Harold III, went for a glider ride today since he didn't get to go last week when his kids went up. This was his second or third flight and I think the last time was back in May, 2002. He enjoyed the experience but probably won't be flying gliders on his own any time soon. With two young kids, and based at Ft. Lewis, Washington, he won't have much chance to get started on such training.

6. My grandkids, Sara and Andrew, went up again today. Sara liked it as much as last week, but Andrew wasn't as impressed this time. I think the only reason he went up is because his older sister went up.

7. Morgan Hall and I went up in the Blanik specifically for spin training. We were able to get four of them done with a 4000 agl tow. That means he did them exceptionally well, recovered quickly, regained some of the lost altitude and spun it again. We did two from the traditional straight ahead stall and two from the common thermaling bank stall. It was fun and instructive for Morgan and not altogether unusual since he has been flying hang gliders and was used to doing spins in them. This time the spin was a bit more adrenaline-producing but his skill at entering and recovering from the spin was both his own ability to do well at anything in-flight as well as his experience at spinning the hang glider.

8. Bart Klusek and Alex Caldwell were using the Blanik at lot during the afternoon, doing various maneuvers including spin training. Bart will likely be signed off in the Blanik as he has been in the 2-33. Alex has been giving him some very good training in the Blanik as well as good tips on beginning cross country flying.

9. Daniel Solis arrived mid-afternoon and went up for a few flights after waiting for the grandkids to have their turn. Daniel keeps adding solo flights to his log book and will be soloing the 1-26 quite soon, perhaps even next time he visits Avenal. He announced he's also taking power training at the same time so I'm sure his glider skills will really help him master power flying. Soaring is the foundation of power flying.

10. The day was slow and uneventful, with beautiful but cold weather. We had a half dozen visitors all of whom opted to come back some other time. We continue to attract visitors and that's great because often they are the next full time club members.   more info

1. Andrea and Jacob Mersino accompanied me to Avenal today. Jacob is on leave for the holidays from the Air Force Academy where he just finished his first semester. He's been doing well there, as has Hanna Marlette and I know it was nice for him to get home again after being gone for seven months. Jacob flew the 1-26 while Andrea flew a refresher flight with me to 3800 msl. She did fine, hasn't lost her skill at glider flying and perhaps one day she'll opt to go for her Pilot's License.

2. Morgan Hall launched in the Blanik, solo, because the clouds were too low to get enough tow height to practice spins. He managed to eke out even the smallest amounts of lift and there were some like that in spite of most of us who went aloft to find nothing.

3. This was Julie Butler's day to solo the 1-26. She has amassed enough solo flights in the 2-33 to qualify for shifting over to the 1-26. After the presolo test and ground discussion, she executed a nearly perfect takeoff with no discernible PIO. She stayed aloft not too long then landed without incident, but chastising herself for not making the perfect landing. Overachiever? Yep, I guess that's what you'd call her. But she works at being perfect.

4. Bart Klusek from Davis, CA, came out again today and flew once with me in the 2-33. He has had training in gliders from some years ago, in England so his training here amounts to not much more than getting used to a different glider and the surrounding area.

5. Peter Mersino and Roy Norman flew in today just in time to get Andrea launched on her solo flight in the 2-33. Naturally she did fine and managed to get into enough lift near the field for us to watch as she circled for what seemed like a nice long flight.

6. The Gallagher contingent arrived mid-afternoon and I took my granddaughter and grandson for their first glider rides. Sara was quite excited about the flight and managed to comment almost continuously as the flight progressed. We found enough lift to remain aloft sufficiently for her to identify tiny houses, cars, and other objects of interest. My grandson, Andrew, on the other hand, was enthusiastic while seated in the glider on the ground. Then was a bit skeptical aloft at first, finally settling down to enjoy the scenery below him. Harold III and his wife, Tomomi, will likely go aloft next weekend if they can make it out to Avenal.

7. Bart Klusek went aloft again in late afternoon at a time when the gliding is smooth and the vistas impressive. He drives a long way down from Davis but seems to enjoy being at Avenal when he could be at other soaring sites closer to his home.

8. It wasn't a great day for lift. Weak thermals were around if you could find them and remain within them. Most of the time, it was a tow aloft and a glide down. But the weather was so nice and the visibility so good that everyone enjoyed the day.

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1. The cold front passed through and the soaring was excellent all day. There were a few spots around Avenal where the lift wasn't all that good. Some reported that over the Kettleman Hills the lift wasn't doing much. But everywhere else the lift was more towards 1000 feet per minute than lower. And Loyal reported one student releasing in what Loyal pegged at 1400 feet per minute. Cloud base was initially at 7500 msl then rose to over 8000 msl as the day progressed. It was a most satisfying day for experienced pilots and for all of my student who showed up today most of whom had the best soaring flights of their careers. As most will tell you, it sure is satisfying to be circling in a thermal that is going up at 1000 feet per minute. The altimeter winds up as fast as the second hand on a clock. Lots of fun for all.

2. Since it has been sometime since Peter Sahlberg flew the 2-33 it was time to renew his solo privileges (every 90 days for student pilots). We flew one flight and his skill set is intact and working properly so he gets a sign-off for another 90 days. We didn't get much lift at that time because it was early and the thermals hadn't triggered by then. But Peter stayed around and did launch in the 1-26 later in the afternoon with a good flight and good height.

3. Morgan Hall and I went flying, with Morgan snagging a very nice thermal, going up at times as fast as 1000 feet per minute. We arrived near cloud base rather quickly, leveled off, headed for another cloud base that was a bit higher, remained aloft as long as we wanted, and finally headed back down because I had students waiting for me. That's always tough for a soaring pilot giving up altitude, but in this case the height was so easily attained, it didn't matter too much. Morgan just went back up again and found even better lift.

4. Julie Butler went flying, climbed to 4500 msl, was able to thermal in good lift, remained aloft for 45 minutes, and remarked afterwards that it was the first real solo soaring flight she has ever made. That's great and a nice confidence builder for the future. And besides, it's all a lot of just plain fun.

5. Daniel Solis did three flights with me, and needed to demonstrate how well he's doing so that soon he'll be flying the 1-26 alone. We smoothed out a few things that got a little rough around the edges but that's normal for his level of training. He'll be alone in the 1-26 in no time.

6. Jerry Smeltzer flew the 1-26 over the Kettleman Hills and reported weak and practically no lift in that area. As we found out the lift was all west of highway 33 and especially strong at Tar Canyon, hitting the 1000 fpm mark for many of those heading out that way.

7. Jeff Lowe had a great flight. Here's what he said about it: "Towed to 4K agl.  Reached 7.8K the last time I looked at the altimeter. Lift was pegged beyond the 1K variometer limit for the 1-26. Found major lift southwest of the prison. I was exhilarated and had a bit of a nervous ( but controlled ) adrenaline rush when I approached cloud ceiling at 7K agl and continued rising quickly into the cloud base even with 1/2 dive brakes open. I opened the dive brakes to full and still continued to ascend, so I pointed the nose down about 20 degrees while full dive brakes open, in order to get out of the clouds as they continued to  pull me upward. It was a rush - especially at my level of experience. I remained calm and focused, thanks to your training skills. I felt good about my decision making and reactions. I can't tell you how much fun it was for me!   I was up for about 75-80 minutes and could have stayed up much longer." Later on in the clubhouse, Jeff treated us to a new song he composed, sang and played on the guitar.

8. Morgan and Mario Crosina flew together using the Blanik and did a bit of cross-country soaring. North to Coalinga, south to Reef City back again circling the area. Morgan did well thermaling when necessary and they both had big smiles after the flight.

9. Finally, Jerry Badal got a chance to fly. Mario had convinced Jerry to head to Avenal because of the great lift. They arrived and Mario promptly went flying with Morgan for about two hours or more. There weren't too many members around when Mario and Jerry landed but I believe the lift weakened considerably by the time they launched.   more info

1. The Club recently purchased a Cessna 150 for towing at Avenal. We know that Loyal is selling his plane and will be relocating somewhere else. So our plan is to use club members and other pilots to provide towing services. We won't be paying the tow pilots so the value to them is to learn to tow gliders and fly free. That was enough to entice 12 attendees to our first annual tow plane pilot seminar. Dan Gudgel conducted the session and did exceptionally well covering a lot of material in the two hours we were there. Probably after New Year's Day, we'll gather the pilots again and at that time put them in the Cessna with gliders attached, and Dan Gudgel in the right seat instructing. Those attending were Dan Gudgel, Loyal Savaria, Harlow Voorhees, Kevin Krauter, Dave Johnson, Doug Betts, Durval Freitas, Doug Staudmeister, Alex Caldwell, Peter Mersino, Steve Schery, and yours truly.

2. Julie Butler continued her training in the 2-33 getting closer to the number of flights needed to solo the 1-26. I have no doubt that when she is ready, her flight of the 1-26 will be smooth and confident. That might be a weekend or two away but my guess is no later than December 20th.

3. Morgan Hall continued his Blanik training with a series of straight and turning stalls. His recovery was excellent and he is more comfortable each time he flies it. Next chance we get, we'll do the spin series so he can understand what happens to a higher performance glider during and after the spin. Compared to a power plane spin, the glider is a bit more exciting. When the recovery begins and the stall is broken, the glider accelerates much more quickly pointed at the earth than would a power plane. The reason is that the windmilling propeller on the power plane acts as a barrier of high drag preventing the higher acceleration gliders experience.

4. Daniel Solis was out again continuing his flights in the 2-33. He's really anxious to fly the 1-26 and his goal is to get the required number of solo flights in the 2-33 that will qualify him for the single seat glider. I have no doubt he'll do it soon based on how much he's been flying lately.   more info

1. We haven't seen Steve Ballard at Avenal in a few years. When he was based at Bakersfield and doing power instructing down there, he was a regular at Avenal both flying and flight instructing. Then he signed on with FedEx, first flying a 727 and now, finally a Captain on the MD-11, photo to the right. Although he's based out of Anchorage, Alaska, he might just be coming out to Avenal more often. I know, that's hard to believe, but these airline captains have an interesting commute to wherever they are based, and Steve is no exception. It has been a long time since we've seen him here and we welcome him back maybe even as another Flight Instructor.

2. Jeff Lowe arrived back again after some time off and took right up where he left off, first flying a dual flight for a refresher, then flying the 1-26 in which he soloed some months ago.

3. Julie Butler continues her quest for her license. She's amassing solo flights in the 2-33 enroute to her being checked out in the 1-26. That may be soon depending on how many flights she does in the 2-33. Stay tuned.

4. Scott Naumann flew here in his Cessna 185 from San Luis Obispo (SLO) and is thinking about joining the club. He's currently a United Air Lines captain on the 777 out of San Francisco as well as a licensed glider pilot. He would be a nice addition to the club and we look forward to his decision to join us.

5. Doug Staudmeister flew the Blanik today a few times. He maintains his currency in that glider particularly and might even take his checkride in that same ship.

6. Daniel Solis continues to get better at flying the 2-33 particularly since he soloed. His confidence level has improved significantly and he will continue to get better as he works toward his checkride.

7. Juan Rivera and Cassy Cantu arrived today and Juan decided to take his first glider ride. We thought Cassy might want to as well but not today. Perhaps she'll make that decision sometime in the future as she sees how safe and beautiful the flight can be. Juan really enjoyed the flight and took the stick for at least 15 minutes of the flight. Maybe one day he'll consider becoming a club member and working towards his license.

8. Morgan Hall is practicing turns and stalls in the Blanik in preparation for his transition to a high performance glider. He's already demonstrated his talent for finding, then remaining in, even the weakest thermals. He's also shown us to be one of the most valuable club members we've had here in years. As you know, he set up the gliderport camera in record time and didn't wait for anyone to form a committee to get it done. See the November 22nd story. He's also working on a new and very improved website that will be easier to maintain and more interesting for our club members since they'll be able to contribute to the site each week in a very convenient way. Other features of the site are planned or already available when it goes live.   more info

1. It was a day for cleaning up around the gliderport and a whole lot of people pitched in and got it done. Mario was the key guy in this effort since he worked around the field before with Dennis Mast and others. Richard Walker oversaw and worked with the crews. This time, he and Jerry Badal, along with Jim Burgess and his grandson Daniel, Morgan Hall and his Dad, Jim as well as Julie Butler, Andy Reistetter, Joe Anastasio, Steve Schery, Paul Hanson, Frank Owen, Doug Staudmeister, and Alex Caldwell all were on hand for the big pyrotechnic show. The place looks so much better now. Trees and bushes are trimmed for better growth and more spaces between them. More watering done for the roses, especially, and ground dried grasses and weeds were burned off. A much needed change for our gliderport. Thanks to Everyone for all the Great Help !!!

2. Norm Lambert went up for another of his series of instructional flights and did so much better this time compared to the all the flights before. His tow was confident and smooth and I believe he has now crossed that threshold and "got it" for towing. His first completely unassisted landing was also quite acceptable so I now envision him moving more rapidly to solo flight.

3. Doug Staudmeister and I went aloft and did spin training in the Blanik. We spun it out of the more traditional straight ahead stall, then spun out of the less well-known thermaling banked turn. He did well on both and can now fly the Blanik solo for his practice flights.

4. Julie Butler continued her flight activities going solo in the Orange Crush. No, there wasn't much lift but practice is easier these days with the smooth air aloft. She gains her skill level increase even though no thermals to chase. Soon she'll be moving over into the 1-26, a ship she will really like

5. At the end of the day, with the sun painting the evening sky a beautiful pink, and the bonfires still glowing bright red, all we lacked were a few marshmallows and some good chilled wine.   more info

1. It was a no-lift day, so Mario and crew decided to help out by starting fires all over the field in hopes of providing the pilots with lift. It didn't work very well. Thermaling in smoke isn't a good idea because most of the soaring pilots don't have an IFR Rating. Other than that, the day was fun and work for most everyone. Mario, Jerry Badal and crew did most of the work clearing brush, trimming trees and starting brush fires. The place continues to look better and better, and next week we'll have an official member work day replete with a barbeque lunch offered by our Pres, Richard Walker.

2. There aren't many details to cover since most of the trips aloft were sled rides right back down, usually at about 150-200 feet per minute. But Doug Staudmeister and I had work to do in the Blanik and after two good maneuvering flights, Doug flew well enough to us to engage in the next checkout maneuver, spin training. That will be the topic of next week's training for him. Today, he did very well controlling a touchy glider.

3. Our newest member, Bart Klusek, drove all the way down from Davis, CA to fly gliders at Avenal and liked the atmosphere so well he joined the club today. Bart and I flew two flights to orient him inside a 2-33 as well as field orientation here at Avenal. His experience came from flying gliders in the U.K., more specifically the K-13, a glider that Rodney and Anthony Squires flew at Lasham in England last time they were together in there. Bart will be a good addition to our club, and since he's already soloed a glider in England, we expect him to be soloing here in Avenal the next time out.

4. Julie Butler continues her training for her Pilot's License, doing solo work in the 2-33. No thermaling but good practice on tow and setting up for pattern and landing. Naturally her landings were more than just good, as usual. She's really a show-off at heart, but backs it up with performance. = )

5. Because of heavy aircraft scheduling, Toy Marlette and I took the Blanik aloft. I thought she'd struggle with that glider, but in fact, flew it better than she has flown the 2-33. Not sure why but I won't argue with it. I was more than impressed with her confident approach to handling the controls once off tow. Even on tow, she did well. Now she doesn't want to fly the 2-33 any more. But later in the day, we did have a chance to fly the 2-33 and with the recent Blanik comparison, she did much better in the 2-33 than before.

6. Morgan Hall flew the 1-26 several times, and like the rest of us, found only small amounts of lift in various meager places. But, it was a beautiful day for flying so no one who launched was entirely disappointed.

7. Doug Betts flew out with his friend, Al (I think that's his name) and wanted to fly a demo flight but with the tight scheduling we just couldn't accommodate them today. I trust they'll be back again in a week or so. Sorry, guys.

8. Daniel Solis came back today after soloing one flight last weekend, to finish up his remaining two solo flights, get his shirttail cut off, and then have fun with a high tow on a nice smooth flying day. His smile was still there hours later when he finally left Avenal still wearing the backless T-shirt. He had fun, we enjoy having Daniel as a member, and look forward to many hours of flying in thermals, and sharing laughter on the patio.

9. Guy Ashby, and long time ago club member, was here today along with a friend of his to take a demo ride. Again, because of glider scheduling problems, the Blanik was the only choice. Giving Mario a break from his pyrotechnics, he took Guy's friend up for a ride and they actually did encounter tiny bubbles of lift in various places.

10. It was a fun day for all, and who really cared about the lack of thermals. Most of the time, our fun comes as much from our own club members and fun on the patio as it does from soaring. I have never been associated with a club with as fine a membership as we have in the CCSC. I've said this often to everyone who will listen and I believe most of us now agree everyone is a pleasure to be around, to talk with, to laugh with, and to share stories. Mario is good at story telling so that the newer members can be sufficiently scared as to bring more honor to the older members for their courage and tenacity in the face of constant danger. Hmmmmmm .....   more info

1. Two ambitious young people, Julie Butler and Daniel Solis decided a couple of months ago that they wanted to become soaring pilots. Daniel began on July 26th and Julie began on August 30th. Julie was able to come out on a very regular basis while Daniel had a few weeks between some of his first glider lessons. But they kept at it, and today, both enjoy a level of achievement not enjoyed by most of the population. There are 590,349 registered pilots in the U.S. of which 21,274 are glider pilots. So we already make up only 3.6% of the pilot population and a mere fraction of the entire U.S. population. Only 1 out of every 12,222 people in the U.S. is a glider pilot. Indeed it is a rarefied level of achievement to say the least. What's really nice about our club members is that every one of them is happy when new members solo. Egos are put aside and all of us welcome our newest solo pilots into the fold. No non-pilot can imagine the thrill of being thousands of feet in the air, piloting an aircraft 26 feet in length with a wingspan of 51 feet, and weighing 1040 lbs. And doing that all alone. You can't think of how to relate that to someone who has never flown solo. It's just too unique a level of achievement. CONGRATULATIONS JULIE AND DANIEL. WE WELCOME YOU TO THE WORLD OF SOARING PILOTS AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING THERMALS WITH YOU IN THE FUTURE.

2. I wasn't sure Julie would be ready today and she wasn't terribly anxious to solo. She was telling the truth when she remarked that when she's ready she'll probably know it. So today, after a few shakeout flights, and refreshing a few maneuvers, I knew she was ready. And just like a few students before her, she did far better on her solo flights than she ever did with me in the glider. Hmmm, ... not sure what that says about my instructional technique. But it's always a thrill for me to see my students do far better on solo because it confirms my belief that soloing early is the best boost one can get in pilot training. Confidence and command of the aircraft are the prizes for soloing and both Julie and Daniel's flight techniques will never be the same halting, unsure moves they made while I was along for the ride. Whether I'm in the back or not, their attitudes about their own command and control have changed for the better forever.

3. No reason to go into the details of Julie's flight. Morgan did an excellent job of that on a website he controls. If you're interested go to http://landseaandsky.blogspot.com/2008/11/julie-pilot.html and have fun looking at the great flights Julie made. Low launch, wings level, nice descent rate, good sharp turns downwind to base to final, smooth touchdown, and best of all, she managed the energy of the glider well enough to roll all the way back to almost the perfect point where she launched before. Now that was an impressive demonstration.

4. Doug Staudmeister was here today and originally scheduled to fly the 1-26, then changed to the Blanik when it seemed that the 1-26 wouldn't have its annual completed in time. But sure enough, Mike Schoenau and Joe Anastasio conspired to get it done before lunch time. That was great news and so instead of the Blanik, Doug flew the 1-26.

5. After lunch, Daniel Solis and I made two flights to check on his preparation because I thought Daniel might solo today as well. I wasn't totally sure because we had a few minor issues with turn method and stick rudder coordination. But those two flights after lunch confirmed that Daniel had gained proper control over those skills and we stopped after two flights in order for Daniel to take the presolo written exam, as did Julie earlier in the morning before her solo flights.

6. While Daniel was agonizing over the test, I took Lisa Dixey for her first glider ride. She didn't anticipate going because she and her sister, Amanda, were there to let Amanda's son, Anthony, go for his first ride. But, at only 7 years old, he wasn't quite prepared for the ride, and decided, after being strapped in the back seat, that he should be back with his mother, and not in some engineless aircraft way up in the sky. So Lisa went for Anthony's ride and really enjoyed the thrill of being aloft and flying without an engine.

7. As you can imagine, the day was wearing on, and getting later and later. By the time Daniel was ready to solo, the sun had nearly set behind the West Ridge. But I really wanted Daniel to solo today so off he went. He did great, and not only landed beautifully but rolled up just abeam of the tie-down area so we could put it away for the evening. It was so late that another flight was out of the question for today. Next time he comes out to Avenal, we'll finish the other two solo flights and get rid of his shirttail as well.

8. It was a fun day, and one of accomplishment for our two new solo  pilots. Next time, we'll see Julie flying alone, and Daniel completing his two remaining supervised solo flights. Then he can join other members aloft, perhaps as high as 3800 msl, searching for thermals, free of the constraint of a loud and demanding flight instructor in the back seat.   more info

1. It was indeed a crazy wavy day. In the morning the wave looked classic. When Norm Lambert arrived we launched into the wave and in laminar flow air, rose smoothly in 3-4 knot lift up to 4500 msl where we exited the wave because we had maneuvers to perform. We easily could have gone higher because as we rose the lift strengthened. I estimated the largest lenticular height at about 9000 msl. But as folks showed up at Avenal, the wave began to change, breaking up for awhile, then reforming, then breaking up. So one's lift experience depended on when the launch took place. The wind aloft at 4500 msl was just about 35 mph or so because as we pointed into the wind, we moved forward very slightly. The troughs and crests were perfectly formed when we launched but later on, no one could guess exactly what was happening. Sometimes we watched broken thermal clouds form, then dissipate, then the wave would come back again clearly in evidence. The towing was rough and most of the flights were made by students in order to experience turbulent clear air. One effect was the spectacular formations almost minute-by-minute across the sky.

2. Butch and Shirley Wright from Coalinga came back again. They were here two weeks ago trying to get a demo ride, but you may recall that day was crowded with training flights and demo flights and no time was available for another two demo rides. This time, they really enjoyed their time aloft and Butch in particular inquired about the possibility of taking soaring lessons. Maybe they'll be back for more in a few weeks.

3. Toy Marlette, Hanna's Mom, continued her training but because the air was rough her one flight was mostly to experience what those weather conditions are like. We weren't up long but enough to show her that on some days, the towing can be a bit difficult to handle.

4. Julie Butler and Morgan Hall also showed up. Julie decided to go up once to experience the towing and did exceptionally well hanging in there and controlling the glider regardless of the turbulence. Morgan originally came out to build concrete pads for the main wheels of the gliders, but couldn't resist the awesome sky as it beckoned to him to come up and join the fun. He launched in the 1-26 but like most of the rest of the pilots today, didn't find the wave even though the lennies were up there all day. Anyway, he had a nice flight and later on worked hard putting concrete pads in the ground.

5. Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik and since he was going alone, Julie asked him about going along for the ride. Joe quickly invited her and they went up looking for the wave. They found enough lift to remain up there for awhile but reported they couldn't find the wave form as Norm and I had earlier.

6. Just about the time we all quit and decided to head to Debbie's for her famous hamburgers, Mario and Jerry Badal had already shown up and were already at Debbie's when we decided to go. They were just about to launch when we finished lunch and got back to the gliderport. Off they went, didn't find the wave, found only a bit of lift, and landed again. Since they were going to try once more, they left the Blanik out, which made for a nice photo of it sitting there under the huge lenticular clouds formed by the high level wave.   more info

1. It wasn't a great day at Avenal but satisfactory for most because even with the weak day, flights were aloft long enough to make it worthwhile to launch. Early in the morning it was quite hazy, thus keeping much of the sun's energy from reaching the ground. Later on, the clearing began southeast and proceeded to the northwest allowing some increase in thermal strength. The good news is that is turned out to be a very good training day for my students who did well both on and off tow. That helped get them some additional experience and confidence.

2. Steve Schery was already aloft in the 1-26 when I arrived but even taking a high tow and looking everywhere, there wasn't any lift to be found, and he simply glided back down. He was our sniffer who sniffed nothing.

3. Daniel Solis trained today, doing the simulated rope break and several high tows. We needed to accomplish them in order for him to begin working towards his solo flights. That's all he has to do from this point forward and he will then solo. That might actually happen next time out. We'll see.

4. In between flights with Daniel, the high performance guys took to the air. Joe Anastasio launched first in the Blanik and he, too, got enough lift to stay up for awhile. Mario was next in his Ventus 2AX, followed by Dave Pilati in his Schweizer 1-35 with Andy Reistetter in the Russia launching last in that group. They all had enough time aloft to make it worthwhile but none got much higher than 4000+ msl.

5. Doug Staudmeister flew the 1-26 after Steve Schery and enjoyed the flying even though the day wasn't all that good. But working weak thermals and remaining aloft under those circumstances helps build skills and flight experience for future cross country flights.

6. Julie Butler and Morgan Hall arrived so Morgan took the 1-26 and managed to stay aloft a reasonable length of time, given what weakness existed out there. He's good a finding and extracting lift out of weak thermals from his hang gliding experience.

7. Julie is also on track to solo very soon. We did the last of the maneuvers today including boxing the wake, and the simulated rope break. So, if all goes well next time we'll be doing only the pattern tows in anticipation of solo flight. No hurry and she'll be safe and competent when I turn her loose but she's getting close.   more info

1. It was a beautiful day for soaring. Lift easily topped 10 knots at various times, but it could be found everywhere. So it was easy to take demo rides, of which we had four and could have had six had there been enough time to take them all. Cloud markers made it easy to find the lift, but once in awhile the lift wasn't in the same spot five minutes later. Most of the time, it was where we expected it to be and everyone aloft had great fun.

2. Andrea Mersino and I arrived early at Avenal and since it had been some time since she flew, we took a refresher flight. Her skills hadn't deteriorated so off she went solo for a nice flight. Now all we have to do is get her studying for the written exam and a Pilot's license will be hers soon.

3. Morgan Hall and Julie Butler arrived at noon so Morgan launched in the 1-26 for a one plus hour flight during which he reached 6200 msl. He came down only because someone else had the glider scheduled next. Morgan is doing well on his progress towards a glider license. Keep going, Morgan!!

4. Julie Butler is also doing quite well. Her skills are improving rapidly and today marks a time when we can see her solo flight just ahead. She thermalled up to 5300 msl and worked good strong lift all the way. There was no use going any higher since we needed to begin work on her solo patterns. So, reluctantly we opened the dive brakes and headed down. I think we easily could have topped 7000 msl because we were still in 4.5 knot lift when we exited the last thermal.

5. Mario and Jerry Badal flew together today. Mario launched early and headed for the mountains. Jerry launched later, and joined him there. At the beginning of the flight, Jerry said he needed to be down by 4:30 pm so both agreed to end the flight in time. Mario landed at just about 4:30 pm and Jerry was nowhere in sight. By about 5:30 pm we decided to launch a search and rescue mission. One of our tows took us far northwest, then back southeast along the West Ridge, all the while looking for a downed glider. We just knew for sure Jerry had landed out since he never would have missed an important date with his wife. The end of the story is that he finally landed back at Avenal and I guess the official reason is that he got caught in a strong thermal and couldn't get out of it for an hour past the time when he should have been on the ground. That happens sometimes so I hope his wife wasn't too angry since Mother Nature intervened to keep Jerry from his important date. What else could he do?

6. Paul Hanson flew his SZD-59 today. Not sure where he went or how long he was aloft but with the lift everywhere he could have had a great flight.

7. Carl Kunz landed his Cessna 170 about noon just in time to help Jerry Badal launch. He also was present when our four demo riders arrived. In fact, Carl knew Ed Thornhill from the past and so it was a reunion of sorts.

8. Ed Thornhill, Margaret, Eva, and Caitlin all came out for a glider ride. Ed was the Air Force Office who interviewed Hanna Marlette during her evaluation days prior to her being accepted into the Air Force Academy. So Ed decided to surprise his girlfriend, Margaret, and the girls, Eva, and Caitlin. I took both young girls up for a nice ride. Eva loved every minute of the long flight we had. And Caitlin really enjoyed it as well, although the flight wasn't as long as Eva's. Then I suggested that Carl take Ed Thornhill up for his glider ride and off they went. After a nice ride, they landed and Margaret was next. We headed to where Loyal said there was really strong lift, and he was right. We got off in 10 knots of lift, and headed up towards 7000 msl. It took only a few minutes to get there but it was definitely cold at that altitude. Instead of climbing any higher we decided to tour the area and finally after a really long demo flight we landed. It was fun for everyone.

9. Richard Walker launched ahead of Margaret and me so he was in the air when we left the strong thermal and decided to tour the area. That gave me a chance to photograph Richard and his Schweizer 1-35 and the photos came out very nice, as you can see on this page.

10. Daniel Solis was ever so patient waiting to fly. Because of the fill-in of the demo flights, it pushed Daniel's lessons back over an hour. He sure was nice about waiting for his turn. Just one more reason why we need another 2-33 in our fleet. Daniel is doing well, improving his stick and rudder coordination, and moving well toward his solo flights. I expect to see him soloing in the next couple of weeks, or sooner. One unknown is how long it will take for the Orange Crush to have its annual inspection accomplished. But otherwise, Daniel flies well, and seems to really enjoy the training.

11. Butch and Shirley Wright showed up today hoping to take a demo ride. We asked them to wait around and hopefully we'd find time to take them up. But the day was filled with flying both scheduled and otherwise so by late afternoon it appeared they wouldn't be able to wait any longer. Fortunately they agreed to come back on November 1 for their long-awaited flight.

12. At the end of the day, Andrea wondered if it was too late to fly. Although the sun was nearing the top of the West Ridge, it would be light enough for at least a half hour flight. So she launched and probably was up for nearly that long. She knows how to thermal when the lift is there. You may have noticed her beautiful smile because just awhile ago she had her braces taken out and she sure does look great without them.   more info

1. Well, it was likely someone would land out during the day. It just happened to be the very last flight of the day, and Jerry Badal got the honors. The wind was strong all day, averaging 14 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. Most of it right down the runway, perhaps a bit of a right crosswind. My students all took only one flight to see what could happen in that kind of wind. The tow, especially below 200 agl, was very turbulent. Even off tow, the strong wind made for some dicey situations aloft. The wonderful part of Avenal is that not making it back to the gliderport carries with it almost no penalty in terms of scratched gliders or bruised bodies. Instead it teaches a great lesson better than hours of warnings from a Flight Instructor. Usually one learns the lesson quickly, far more quickly than during a training lesson. In this case, it took a bit of hard work from a whole lot of people to get the glider back onto the field, but other than that, a lesson well learned.

2. Norm Lambert was out here today and because of the strong wind and difficulty in controlling a glider on tow, once was enough to get the idea of what effect such a "breeze" can have on glider flight.

3. Julie Butler also took one flight, learned a lot, hung onto the tow as best she could and when back on the ground, agreed that it was a day when even a licensed pilot might opt to come back another day.

4. Daniel Solis was here for training as well. He, too, took one flight and learned how interesting it can be both on tow and on landing. The real lesson came not from their Flight Instructor, but from watching Jerry Badal land in the soft dirt in late afternoon. And, with the exception of Norm Lambert, all the rest of the pilots here today were involved in the retrieval of the glider. That alone is worth it's weight in Flight Instructing. I couldn't have shown it better myself.

5. One of the valuable exercises I like to ask students to do when the wind is that strong is what I call Flightless Wing Leveling. It means that you get in the glider that is parked on the runway and by virtue of the strong wind, you can actually raise the wings to level position and try to keep them there with stick movement only. It sounds easy but if one tries to look at each wing to accomplish it, that won't work. One must use the pitot tube on the nose of the glider to determine wings level, and that's valuable because in flight one must use that same clue. So it's a great way to practice level flight without paying for either a tow fee or a Flight Instructor's fees.

6. Doug Staudmeister opted to fly the 1-26 in these strong winds and when he found out what it was like, he parked the glider after only one flight that he described as quite turbulent and difficult to control both on and off tow. Nice lesson learned for Doug and for everyone else.

7. Morgan Hall came out today with Julie planning to fly the 1-26 but decided not to try it today. I thought his decision was most thoughtful and correct given the conditions and his time in that glider. That's the mark of a careful pilot. Remember, not only do we preflight our gliders but we must also PREFLIGHT OURSELVES. That's what Morgan did and set a great example for all the other students on the field today.

8. Actually, Jerry Badal's landout flight wasn't his first of the day. He took his brother Dave for a flight in the Orange Crush and in spite of what we thought might be a bad day for soaring, got into some sort of "thermal" or shear line, and stayed aloft for an hour at altitudes upwards of 6000 msl. We're still not sure what caused the lift since the upper air was quite strong and surely would have erased any form of thermal. A shear line still is a possibility.   more info

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:

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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...

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Thanks Paul, for the update and a few of the larger photos were 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 Lowe, 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.   more info

1. The 1-26 was well scheduled today, and the thermals were building early. However, fate had other plans and the flat tire on the 1-26 pushed the flight schedule back an hour or so. But, as has been happening lately, some really conscientious members stepped forward to help and the 1-26 was flying again relatively quickly. Thanks especially go to Peter Sahlberg and help from others including Dave Pilati made the project go faster. Once back in the air, the flying was fun.

2. Norm Lambert was back again for continued training. This time his performance on tow was the best he's done so far. With that achievement, he can now move more quickly toward his solo flying. He's not pushing to do that, but it is a milestone when one can finally "get" the idea of being on tow. It was bumpy today but even through the bumps, Norm held on and maintained good position.

3. Dave Pilati and Mario Crosina assembled their gliders and sometime after lunch they launched into a sky full of thermals. Both had satisfactory flights for the day.

4. Daniel Solis was back again continuing training. He's catching on quickly and I expect him to be ready to solo in a couple of weeks. He's a smart young man who gave up learning to fly power planes after his first demo flight in a glider because he thought it more valuable and more fun than worrying about engines, propellers, fuel, RPM's, etc. Later on I'm sure he'll return to powered aircraft after his glider license. For now, though, he's enjoying learning how it feels in pure flight.

5. Alex Caldwell was here today giving rides in the Blanik. He brought his nephew, Freddie Alvizo, to the gliderport, and mid-afternoon they went flying towards the mountains. Alex has no trouble staying aloft even in what seem like very light conditions to anyone else, me included.

6. Doug Staudmeister has been getting a lot of experience flying the 1-26. When Peter Sahlberg was finished flying the 1-26, Doug was scheduled after him. So Doug went aloft and stayed there for quite some time. Doug is a licensed power pilot working on his add-on rating.

7. Julie Butler came out today, without Morgan Hall, because she wanted to maintain her track toward solo and didn't want to lose a weekend of flying. We worked on all the normal maneuvers, especially getting better at staying on tow. That is, for Julie, like it is for everyone who tries it for the first time, an initial difficulty that later on turns into a non-event. She is doing well and I look forward to her soloing sometime soon.

8. Some of you who follow our website may remember Audrey Peterman who visited us for the first time back in November, 2007. She is already a licensed glider pilot, stationed at Lemoore NAS, and, I believe, is a Weapons Systems Officer in an FA-18. This time she brought her friend, Joe Heyne, who had never been in a glider before. He did very well, stayed on tow in good position and, if he chooses, could get his add-on rating with no difficulty once he does the paperwork for his civilian license. Joe is a Super Hornet Pilot in VFA-147 at the base.   more info

1. Well, as I suspected, it didn't take all that long for Morgan Hall to solo a glider since he's been flying hang gliders for years, high up and long distances. So, welcome to our gang of solo pilots, Morgan and CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR SOLO FLIGHT !! He had no difficulty with the flights and touched down each time smoothly and confidently. I'd like to think it was because of his talented instructor but the real reason is that he has excellent hand/eye coordination and a skill set from hang gliding that served him well in the 2-33. Julie Butler came out with Morgan, but wanted him to have the necessary flights to hopefully get to solo. There wasn't time for Julie to fly but she was most unselfish and let Morgan have all the media time. Thanks, Julie !!

2. Harlow Voorhees brought out a good friend, Larry Mennuci, for Larry's first, and perhaps only, glider flight. Along with Larry were his brother, Don and good friend, Jerry Karabian. Both Larry and Don are retired Fresno firemen, and Larry is especially involved in aviation because he builds and flies model airplanes. Larry loved the flight but indicated that it was just what he wanted to accomplish and nothing more. That's OK with us. We ask everyone to take even one glider flight just to see what it's like. If people like it well enough, they'll come back for more. But at least they take one flight. Thanks, Harlow and Larry.

3. It was one of those nice days when there were sufficient markers to immediately find a thermal. Bruce Patton wasn't going to wait as long as everyone else so he launched early. The other side of that coin is that it was clean-up day at Avenal and those pilots who did help out, like Jeff Lowe completely cleaning the inside of the clubhouse, weren't able to fly until later on in the afternoon. Bruce had a very long flight up and down the Temblor Range and arrived back in mid afternoon.

4. Toy Marlette was back again continuing to train for her glider license. She progresses nicely and naturally she'll be soloing one day soon. That will be a moment for Hanna, back in Colorado Springs in the Air Force Academy. A cheer from afar.

5. Alex Caldwell was busy taking people for rides in the Blanik. He brought a friend out to Avenal and they were first up in the Blanik. Then, a friend of Frank Owen, Claus, went for a ride with Alex touring the mountain area. All had a good time.

6. Jack Wiegand had a great flight in the 1-26, up for over an hour and high at over 5000 msl. Let's hope Jack gets going on his written test because he is so close to getting his license, the plastic is almost in his hand.

7. Jeff Lowe finally got a chance to fly the Orange Crush after his cleaning marathon in the clubhouse. It's as clean as I ever remember it, so thanks from all of us, Jeff !! His flight in the 2-33 was high and long, probably as good a flight as he has ever had solo. If he keeps up these good flights in the 2-33, we'll move him into the 1-26 where he will likely want to stay for months at a time.

8. Joe Anastasio finally took his turn in the 1-26 and like everyone else, had a wonderful flight chasing the markers and getting into some ferocious lift.

9. Frank Owen flew out in his Cessna 152 along with friend, Claus (can't remember his last name). Not sure if Frank flew at all but was around helping out and making sure that Claus got his flight before he went back to Germany.

10. Jerry Badal and Mario Crosina were here today but I don't know whether they went flying. It sure was a nice day but perhaps their cleaning time took up all their flying time.   more info

1. Jerry Badal started the quest for his license a number of years ago down in California City with Cindy Brickner's group. Later on, he found out about the CCSC in Avenal and moved his training site here. We're glad he did because, like the rest of our members, we're really glad to have him as a valued member. So now, after all these years, Jerry earned his license. It wasn't that he didn't know enough to pass it. It was the time available outside of job and family priorities. In fact, Jerry passed the written exam with a great score of 98. So, from all of us to you, Jerry, we offer our heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS!!

2. Andrea Mersino came out with her Dad to renew her solo privileges and did so with no difficulty. Now she's legal again for another 90 days. I hope she continues her quest for her license because she is an excellent pilot who deserves to achieve that goal.

3. Pat Perry is another dedicated pilot-in-training who really is working hard to get that license. Pat's progress is excellent and I expect him to be soloing soon. We'll look for that achievement.

4. As you can see from two of the photos, the thermals were everywhere and strong, as well as quite perfectly formed. That made for some great soaring all day long.

5. Doug Staudmeister came out again to continue flying the 2-33 solo with plans to move to the 1-26 when enough flights have been accomplished in the 2-33. He's close to that goal and I would expect him to solo the 1-26 in the next one or two weekends.

6. Jerry Badal surprised us all by coming out again today so soon after getting his license yesterday. But he couldn't stay away from our wonderful soaring site and I think he just wanted to revel in the feeling of having achieved a level of flight most people just dream about.

7. Julie Butler and Morgan Hall arrived today for their second set of training flights. Both are doing very well, with Morgan a bit ahead of Julie because he has been flying hang gliders for many years. And from our Club experience we know that those pilots really make excellent soaring pilots. Morgan is already taking the entire tow with very little difficulty so I expect to see him solo quite soon.

8. Jerry Smeltzer was out again this weekend. Seems he is becoming a more regular attendee since his retirement from Sears. He is most helpful around the club and we're happy to know that he's now retired and can devote most of his free time to club activities, isn't that right, Jerry????   more info

1. Now that Hanna is on her way toward her future and flying career, Toy Marlette has decided to learn to fly. Truth is, she has always wanted to learn but as mothers often do, subjugated herself to her daughter's career. Not any more. Now it's her turn and I'm sure she'll do really well. Our first formal lesson was a hint at things to come, with her doing very well handling the glider off tow maneuvering throughout the range of the four fundamentals of flight. We'll look forward to seeing Toy solo one day soon. I'll keep you posted.

2. Jeff Lowe was back out at it again soloing and building up time toward his solo in the 1-26. That should come soon as he flies more solo flights in the 2-33. I'm sure he'll do well in the 1-26.

3. Peter Sahlberg also flew the 1-26 and is continuing to build time in the air prior to his checkride. He's studying the ground material and with his already good flying, his License should be rather straightforward.

4. Justin Munk came out with Dan Munk and Toy Marlette and wanted to go for his first glider ride. We had a fun time, he enjoyed weightlessness and depending on his time at home and his access to Avenal, Justin might take an interest in learning to fly gliders.

5. Pat Perry from San Luis Obispo area was again working on his rating. Pat's progress is excellent and he is likely to be another solo pilot sometime soon. A good fellow and a welcome Club Member.

6. Speaking of club members, Julie Butler and Morgan Hall joined the CCSC today. WELCOME TO THE CCSC, JULIE AND MORGAN !! These two over-achievers (mountain biking, hang gliding, etc etc.) have decided to join and learn to fly gliders. So today we went up formally for the first time. Amazingly so, Morgan got the tow almost from the very beginning. I guess his hang gliding experience has helped somewhat, but he's got a lot of natural coordination and talent as well. Julie also did very well, but off tow as compared with Morgan. Both are going to be excellent CCSC pilots and I expect both to solo rather soon. Perhaps Morgan is a bit ahead of Julie but I have no doubt Julie wont' be far behind.

7. It was a long day of flight instructing but as the sun dipped down towards the West Ridge, two young ladies arrived at the gliderport for a demo ride. Kathy and her daughter, Charity, looked forward to flying today even at this late hour. So, Charity went first, had a good flight, there was still some lift available, and then, Kathy decided to go for her flight, although that wasn't her initial intention when she arrived here. Both had a nice time, with the air smoothing out at the end of the day made for a quiet, smooth, and serene sightseeing flight.   more info

1. Now this young lady was determined. She wanted to fly, and fly often especially up to solo and that's just what happened. Erin Parsons decided to get her pilot's license before her driver's license and it looks like that will happen. She wasn't satisfied with the number of her flights on Saturday, August 23rd, and wanted more. So we met at Avenal on Tuesday, August 26th and continued her series of flights. I wasn't sure she would solo because trying to pack more than a few flights into one day. But we started anyway, and she did so well it was obvious she was ready. So, out I went and her three flights were excellent. Her father was there to watch, just as proud as any father would be. Now Erin joins the elite list of young people who have soloed at Avenal and are on their way to a Pilot's License. Our CONGRATULATIONS FROM ALL OF US, ERIN !!

2. Erin came back out the following Saturday, August 30th, along with her Dad and Mom, to watch as she went aloft, taking a high tow each time. That was a thrill for all of us since it marks the time when her solo flights are all her own rather than supervised as the first three were. Yes, she did very well and appeared to enjoy the time aloft. Finally they celebrated as a family by going to Debbie's for the famous hamburgers.

3. Jack Wiegand and I flew out to Avenal in the Cherokee 140. Jack needed a refresher flight since it had been awhile after his last flight. We took a 2800 msl tow and he did fine. So, later on, after helping out around the field as he usually does, Jack went aloft in the 1-26 and was up for just over 2.5 hours. A great flight and as I was taking students up at various times, we say Jack doing a great job of thermaling. At one point, we were in the 2-33 quite high above Jack in the same thermal. In no time, he had passed us and we were then looking up at him. Nice flying, Jack.

4. Julie Butler and Morgan Hall were out today for demo flights  both determined to gain their Pilot's Licenses. Morgan isn't new to flying, having spent a number of years as a hang glider pilot. Julie isn't new to flying either, but her previous tasks have been to follow Morgan via car, if possible, and rescue him when he lands far from home base. Just like all the other crew members we have welcomed over the years to glider flying. They are both dedicated to learning gliders and their determination showed in their first few training flights. WELCOME TO THE CCSC, JULIE AND MORGAN !!

5. Julie was catching on very quickly demonstrating good stick and rudder coordination right from the very beginning of her demo flight. She will definitely make a good pilot, and look forward to her soloing in the very near future. Julie and I didn't find a lot of lift on her flight but enough to get a good idea of thermal flying. Morgan did exceptionally well considering he had never flown a full-sized aircraft prior to today. It was quite amazing how quickly he took to the tow, doing all of it by his last flight of the day. Yes, he had a few tows during his hang glider days but on tow in a full-scale glider is different from hanging back there on tow in a hang glider. The more amazing part of the flight was his performance off tow. We fortunately got off in good lift and Morgan, with a bit of coaching from the back seat managed to thermal us up over 7600 msl !! That may have hooked him and he did exceptionally well thermaling as most good hang glider pilots do when they get in a glider.

6. Doug Staudmeister was back out again today, flying more solos and as the number of 2-33 flights increases, I'll be ready to solo him in the 1-26. He should enjoy that and we can use the 2-33 time freed up. One of these days we might see another 2-33 on the field, but in the meantime, we'll have to do with the Orange Crush only.

7. Mario Crosina flew again today. Seems he is out more at Avenal lately than he has ever been. This time he soared hours and gained altitude up over 10,000 msl. It was that good a day for soaring and he took advantage of it. Great flying, Mario !!

8. Joe Anastasio was out again, flying the Blanik. As I recall, he did very well, remained aloft for a long time and got back quite elated for the height and duration of his flight.

9. Jerry Badal was here, wanting to train for his upcoming flight check ride on September 12th, but the lone 2-33 we have was taken up by other students. So Jerry flew the 1-26 and he also was up over 2.5 hours until late in the afternoon/early evening.

10. Another great day at Avenal with promise of two new students in Julie Butler and Morgan Hall. They are both really nice people and would make great additions to our club.   more info

1. CONGRATULATIONS TO JEFF LOWE ON HIS FIRST FLIGHT SOLO !! This young man really worked hard at making his dream come true. He worked especially hard because he had a few motion issues to deal with. At one point, I thought I had lost him as a student because once or twice he really suffered when back on the ground. But he's tenacious and was determined to become a licensed pilot so he fought through those issues and came out on top. We are all proud of you, Jeff, for how well you stayed with your goal in spite of the difficulty. Now, as a real pilot, you will probably not suffer those kinds of issues any longer. Regardless, we welcome you to the ranks of the elite in aviation and will continue to follow your progress all the way to your license. His lovely wife, Margo, was here today to witness her honey's great day. And she was as happy, perhaps more so, than Jeff. A great supporter of Jeff's goal in life.

2. Jeff got top billing today but Doug Staudmeister's solo is equally prominent. The difference is that Doug is already a licensed pilot and this will be for his add-on rating. Nevertheless, his accomplishment, in a very short time, was excellent and worthy of  CONGRATULATIONS !!. It really is nice to have new solo pilots in the club because of the serendipity of them comparing notes and progress and wishing each other good flights from a solo perspective.

3. Royson Parsons brought his daughter, Erin, to Avenal for continued training towards her license. Erin, like Hanna before her, is determined to get her pilot's license before she receives her driver's license. And at the rate she's going, that will likely be soon. She hadn't finished her flying for five minutes today and asked if she could come out next Tuesday for continued training. How could I refuse such a dedicated student. So we will be back out again next week for more flying. In fact, she has progressed so well that it wouldn't surprise me if she flew well enough next Tuesday to solo.

4. Jerry Badal came out today to fly with me in preparation for his newly scheduled checkride with Dan Gudgel on September 12th. But with all the commotion of solos and early student training, I really didn't have the time to work with him. So he took the 1-26 up for a flight and didn't come back for more than four hours. Now that was some good thermalling. As I recall he was up above 7000 msl near the mountains.

5. Jerry Smeltzer flew the 1-26 before Jerry Badal but he struggled with finding good lift and his flight was cut shorter than he anticipated. But that happens to us all, and usually Jerry is an excellent thermaling pilot. I'm sure he'll make up for it the very next time he launches.

6. Mario Crosina was here today, flew his Ventus 2AX for many hours in the mountains up and down range just having fun.

7. Dave Pilati also came out and flew his neat and clean Schweizer 1-35. He, too, had a long flight and was gone for several hours.

8. Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik and had what he characterized as a great flight. I wish I had gone along with him. We would have had some fun going cross country because that's how great the conditions were today.   more info

1. On Thursday, Richard Walker and I flew a few flights in preparation for his checkride on Saturday. No one was there, of course, in the middle of the week, except Loyal. Finally on Saturday morning, Richard Walker passed his checkride for his Commercial Glider License. CONGRATULATIONS, RICHARD !!

2. Norm Lambert continues his quest for his first solo flight. That may be a few weeks off but the experience he's gaining is valuable. We used one of our two flights to cover up the instruments and I showed Norm how he's been developing a data base of knowledge regarding both altitude and airspeed. So I had him guess how high we were at one point and he guessed 1500 agl. Removing the cover, it read 2330 msl, which is only 50 feet off his guess. We did the same with airspeed several times and most times he was within a few miles per hour of the actual airspeed. It's a valuable lesson and gives the student the necessary confidence to look out the canopy instead of focusing on the inside. Norm continues to improve with each lesson.

3. CCSC had it's Board Meeting today and covered a variety of topics including the decisions regarding the future of towing at Avenal. As you may know, Loyal is leaving for Hawaii and selling his Avenal assets. So the club will take over the responsibility for owning a tow plane and having members take turns doing the towing. It will work out well. If you are already a power pilot and would like to take your turn doing the towing especially on a Saturday, contact Dan Gudgel and put your name in the hat. We hope we have enough pilots so that no one pilot should have to sign up for more than one towing day per month or even per two months.

4. Daniel Solis came out again today and although we flew only once, it was a good one. We were up for 1.3 hours and Daniel did very well getting into a very strong thermal and working us up over 6800 msl. At various times we were in 10+ knots of lift. Daniel is going to do well as he continues his glider training.

5. Jerry Badal came out again after a few weeks absence. Jerry bought his own glider, the Libelle formerly owned by the late Dennis Mast. It is a fitting tribute that Dennis' glider should fly on at Avenal after him. And Jerry is about one millimeter from finishing his license and I'm going to bug him forever until he gets it done. Oh, and we had a very good flight up over 6000 msl, and 1.3 hours aloft.

6. Jeff Lowe is right there, about to solo. I expect that to happen  next Saturday and he'll be there early to avoid the heat that has been plaguing him throughout his training cycle. He has done quite well and should be ready for me to exit the glider. He's bringing his honey, Margo, out next Saturday to witness his achievement.

7. Mike McClellan arrived mid-afternoon from Felton to have his Biennial Flight Review conducted. We flew the required three flights, did the hour ground time, and he passed quite satisfactorily. Mike went flying near the end of the day, and I wasn't around to talk about his success in finding thermals that late. They should have been mostly over the bare rocks at the foothills as they usually are in late afternoon.

8. Mario was out today as you can see from the photos. He flew one flight but I have no information about it.

9. Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik and did quite well, as shown by the aerial photo of him over the foothills. He also brought out our golf cart from the hangar at the southeast and we used it for the first time towing gliders. I knew we had the cart, it has been here for at least a year or more, given to us by Jerry Smeltzer. We just needed batteries and a charger and Joe got all that taken care of. So, hooray, we can tow rather than use muscle power. Now, those of us who used to provide the motive power, must renew our memberships in our local gyms.

10. Paul Hanson and dog showed up for his weekend tour of Avenal. Not sure if he flew but I'm certain it would have been at some time over the weekend. His glider was assembled and he could have flown today but I was quite busy and didn't see him aloft.

11. Dan Gudgel and Harlow Voorhees flew in the Blanik, for Harlow's refresher flights. Their first flight was a good one, thermaling for a nice long flight and up over 5000 msl. They took another that turned out to be a real rope break at about 3-400 feet agl, but they made it back with no trouble. That's a very good reason for all of us to remain vigilant about rope breaks that can happen at any time.

12. The barbeque turned out quite nicely with hamburgers, chips, drinks, etc., for everyone. Thanks to Richard Walker. I don't know if he was celebrating his License, or just thanking everyone for coming to the Board Meeting, or showing off his cooking skills.

13. Durval Freitas flew his Cessna 140 to Avenal, stayed awhile, then had to head home for family stuff. I believe he towed two or three times today.

14. Don't forget to vote for your favorite photo at the bottom of all the photographs. I'm not suggesting that either one is gallery quality, I'm just interested in how each comes across to everyone. They're similar but different enough to cause you to stop and think about composition, color, etc. Don't forget to vote.   more info

1. The weather at Avenal has been just beautiful these past few weeks with clear air, hot sun, good thermals, and marker birds. What more could anyone ask for in soaring?

2. Andy Reistetter arrived early as did Mario, both to work on getting Andy's Russia glider through its annual. That went smoothly and now Andy can fly once again. He's getting close to needing a BFR and that will be the next event for Andy.

3. Peter Sahlberg arrived again today, the second weekend in a row. Amazing !!  He's taking advantage of being a bachelor for a few weeks while his wife enjoys her vacation. So Peter is getting some good soaring time in and that is both fun and valuable for moving towards his add-on rating. Welcome again, Peter.

4. Erin Parsons went back to work on her glider training after having been away from Avenal since April. She is determined to get her pilot's license before her driver's license just as Hanna Marlette did a couple of years ago. I know Erin and Hanna talked and that must have impressed Erin to achieve the same thing. We wish her luck and her performance this weekend would certainly indicate her goal is well within reach. She flew Saturday afternoon till late, then was up early Sunday morning before 8:00 am to fly again. Her dad, Royson, has been a wonderful supporter of her flight goal, and was around over the weekend photographing her activity with his professional-sized Canon single lens reflex. Should be some nice photos headed our way so look for them on this site.

5. Richard Rix came back to Avenal today for another round of demo flights. He was here some months ago and really enjoyed his first demo flight. This time he brought his Marine Corps buddy, Paul Azgour, because Paul had never been in a glider before. Paul and I went aloft in the Orange Crush and had a nice long flight with Paul manning the controls in the thermals and doing quite nicely, I might add. After a break, Richard decided to take his demo ride in the Blanik and we waited until Joe Anastasio returned from having a good time aloft. We headed to the West Ridge and released just at the base of the mountains at 2800 msl. Finding not much, we headed back towards the airport and encountered almost nothing all the way back to the field. A few turns in weak lift and very disappointingly entered the pattern for landing. It wasn't what Richard had in mind since his only other demo flight was an hour or more. He hoped that would be the case today, but Mother Nature and his pilot didn't come through. Oh, well. That's the life of a soaring pilot. One minute the lift is great, the next minute it leaves in a hurry.

6. After helping Andy with his annual, Mario assembled his Ventus 2AX and went aloft. Naturally he stayed aloft as long as he wanted both because of his skills and because there was just enough lift in the area to make flying the Ventus nice and easy. A few times he circled around the Orange Crush when Erin and I were flying but not often enough for any close-up photos.

7. Sunday morning after Erin finished her training, Doug Staudmeister arrived to join the Club and begin his training for an add-on rating. Doug works for an aerospace company in Paso Robles and lives in Pismo Beach. He's a transplant from back East working his way through the various levels of management on a fast track to higher executive levels. In the meantime, he's enjoying the challenge and spirit of soaring and will be a good member to have as long as he's out here on the West Coast. Congratulations and welcome aboard, Doug !!   more info

1. On one of the clearest days in months, George Powell and I left Fresno headed for Avenal, and immediately could see Black Mountain from the downtown area of Fresno a distance of 66 miles. No smoke, no clouds, no dirt particles floating above the farms on the West Side!!

2. Daniel Solis has decided to join our club and work on his glider rating. Daniel is from Dinuba and had begun power flying, amassing about 20 hours. But now he says he's hooked on gliders and will go all the way to his license.

Welcome to our Club, Daniel !!

3. Peter Sahlberg was here early and helped everyone he could. Then he flew the 1-25 a few times to enjoy the lift and the clear air. Thanks for all that help, Peter.

4. Jeff Lowe was out getting his Student License so George, Peter and I had time to wash both the 2-33 and the 1-26. Now all we have to do is convince someone to add a coat of wax on the upper surfaces of both gliders and that will make them shine, and be more aerodynamic. Any volunteers?

5. For those international viewers of our website, you can come to the U.S. and help out as long as the Euro is so much higher compared to the Dollar. A nice inexpensive vacation, coupled with valuable community service and a chance to soar in America. So make those reservations now and let us know when you'll arrive.

6. Jeff Lowe is getting ever close to his solo, likely this month. His last few tows were excellent and indicative of someone who has locked on to the skill and made it instinctive, rather than thoughtful.

7. Alex Caldwell brought his friend, Patrick McFarland, out to Avenal for his first glider flight. They had a nice time aloft in the Blanik, staying up, probably as long as both bladders held out.

8. Phil Decker from Lemoore NAS brought his buddy, Kevin Watkins, out to Avenal for his first glider flight. They took the Orange Crush and had a nice long flight in the area (after the first premature release). Perhaps we'll get Kevin to start on his glider add-on rating.

9. Peter launched again and reported a 2.5 hour flight all over the area. Excellent flight because it was the best he's ever done in his early soaring career.

10. Durval Freitas showed up in his nice Cessna 140 just to enjoy the beautiful day, and relax, which he did.

11. Loyal's Aerobat has been overheating lately and between several tows, needs to be cooled down with a blower pointing into the cowl. Let's hope the engine is OK from all that hot oil.

12. Near the end of the afternoon, George Powell and I decided to take the Blanik up and enjoy the day. Unfortunately there wasn't too much lift from the West Ridge all the way back to the field and our expected long flight didn't materialize. But any flight at Avenal on such a clear day is nice to enjoy.   more info

1. You may be wondering what a meeting of two United Air Line pilots would cause it to be the headlines in today's weblog. Well, the first time these two met at Avenal, they both just happened to arrive on the same day. Neither had seen one another for several years even though they are based out of SFO. This time, Cliff told me in Fresno that he hadn't been to Avenal in so long, he needed to get out there to fly some refresher flights. So we drove together. Cliff had joined the CCSC on April 12, 2008. Two weeks later, Cliff just happened to be at Avenal when Carl Kunz showed up. Neither had seen one another for a good long time. So here we are again. Both had been absent from Avenal for a few months, and both decided to show up on the same day. I think they both have GPS ankle bracelets on that are location coordinated for Avenal. Anyway, welcome again, guys and we hope you come out more often. Even together !!

2. Andy Reistetter had his elevator linkage fixed and was determined to fly his Russia sailplane. Steve Schery helped out and he did get launched. Everything worked OK and while he returned rather quickly, he later went up for a longer flight. We're glad to have you back, Andy.

3. Norm Lambert was here again today, continuing his flight training. This time we practiced stick and rudder coordination, in shallow and steep turns. His coordination is remarkably good for being in such an early training cycle. Sometimes that happens while other phases of flight take longer than normal. He's on his way to good things with such excellent coordination, since so much of soaring involves good coordination.

4. Daniel Solis attended the Father's Day Fly-In and Air Show at Chandler airport on June 14, 2008, saw my glider and we got to talking. He decided to come out and go for a demo ride. Because the tow plane has been down for weeks, this was his first opportunity to fly. We went up for a nice flight, released at 2800 msl and had fun with what little lift was evident. But he got hooked, and wanted to fly again. So, waiting an hour or so, we went again and this time the lift had developed even more. Out demo flight lasted nearly an hour. On the ground again, Daniel bought a glider log book, and I expect to see him back again to join the CCSC and begin in earnest his glider training. Come back soon, Daniel !!

5. Carl Kunz took the 1-26 and headed for the mountains. He found good lift and was up for an hour, attaining 5200 msl for his efforts. Because he needed to be back at Monterey early, he left while Cliff Stone was flying the Orange Crush.

6. Cliff Stone waiting until mid-afternoon, found good lift as well over the mountains and attained 5300 msl, beating Carl's altitude by 100 feet. For a guy who doesn't soar regularly, Cliff does very well. We need to have him on our staff of Flight Instructors as soon as possible. He'd be great at mentoring young people just starting their training. He always provides detailed explanations for so many aerodynamic issues, he's a veritable walking aviation dictionary.   more info

1. Jack Wiegand and I arrived in Avenal on Friday via the Cherokee 140 so he could get some power training as well as renew his solo privileges. After we flew together, each of us flew individually,. he in the 1-26 and me in the 2-33. There really wasn't much lift when we launched and we couldn't wait a few hours for the lift to develop, which I'm sure it did based on the soundings. But we had fun, and then headed back to Fresno in the air.

2. Peter Sahlberg came out early on Saturday morning expecting to fly the 2-33 but much to his surprise, I strongly encouraged him to fly the 1-26. He's easily beyond the skill level for that aircraft and so he gave in with some reluctance. After a thorough cockpit checkout, he launched. Did well, no PIO's (Pilot Induced Oscillations) but was a bit low after liftoff, apparently not realizing that Loyal could climb more easily towing the 1-26 than a loaded 2-33. But other than that, he did very well, and managed his energy well enough to nearly return all the way to the starting point. I'm sure he'll get a kick out of flying it, and did it again in the afternoon.

3. Jeff Lowe continues his training and is doing quite well. He fights a bit with some motion uneasiness but manages to deal with it, partly with pills and partly with opening the canopy when he feels the need for a blast of fresh air. Jeff is nearing solo and the next thing he needs is a Student Pilot License. One of these days you'll see him smiling from the front seat of the Orange Crush after solo.

4. Joe Anastasio was here today and flew the Blanik. I believe he had a good flight but don't recall the details. In fact he might have flown twice today but I can't verify that. He sure does enjoy the Blanik for mountain soaring.

5. Norm Lambert has been waiting a few weeks from the time he joined the club until today because no tow plane has been available. But now he's on his way to a glider license and doing very well his first two times aloft. In fact, on his second flight, we released at the West Ridge in good lift, at 3000 msl and with very little instruction, he managed to soar all the way to 6000 msl. Quite a feat for someone on their second official instructional flight. Looks like Norm will be a great student and follow through all the way to his license. Nice thermalling, Norm !!

6. In between flights with Norm, we let Phil Decker take his wife Tara for a flight out to the West Ridge. They were up a nice long time, got good altitude, and finally returned. We were in no hurry to get the Orange Crush back but I guess they knew that another couple, friends of theirs, would show up soon. So by the time they landed, Chris and Lauren arrived hoping to fly at least one flight. I apologize to them because Norm did such a great job flying in that thermal at the West Ridge up to 6000 msl, that the time got away from us. By the time we landed, there wasn't enough time available for Chris and Lauren to fly. We hope they come back again with Phil and Tara sometime soon. Sorry everyone !!

7. Dave Johnson, of mountain landout fame, arrived in his Bellanca hoping to get his solo privileges renewed since it has been awhile. Fortunately Alex Caldwell arrived about the same time and after a refreshment break, they went aloft in the Orange Crush.

8. Paul Hanson was around over the weekend and after chatting with the Keen's for some time he took his SZD 59 up for a nice flight. The lift was there, it was even better after 3:00 pm, and most could stay up as long as desired. In fact, as I pointed out to Norm, we could have easily flown to Coalinga from our 6000 msl altitude. As his training develops there will be other good times to demonstrate cross country soaring.   more info

1. Bill Deviny started his flight training on July 11th and flew solo on July 15th. His goal was to get it done before he returned to the North Slope where he works two weeks on and two weeks off. So we concentrated our efforts and sure enough, he soloed on the 15th. His training took less time than someone starting off since this is an add-on rating for him. A power pilot and aircraft owner, Bill needed some challenging diversion from flying those easy aircraft with the iron thermal up front. CONGRATULATIONS, BILL !!

2. Jerry Smeltzer showed up on Saturday and flew the 1-26. Not much lift when he launched but it was fun day nonetheless. He is a regular at Avenal and when not flying he helps out around the field.

3. Loyal's Aerobat is back (maybe you didn't know that we were without a tow plane for more than four weeks) but not exactly OK. Seems he's still wrestling with the overheating problem and an electrical glitch. He can tow twice, but then needs to stop and attach a blower to the cowling to get it back down below redline. The plane is for sale and I hope he is successful in selling it since it is more than he should have to deal with at this time in his life. If you come out to fly, be patient and you'll get launched, not quite as fast as before but better than no plane at all.   more info

1. Not a spectacular day for soaring but a good one for training. Both Jeff Lowe and Peter Sahlberg were there to improve their skills and the steady strong wind almost down the runway proved to be good for judging how far not to go on downwind.

2. Norm Lambert, a neighbor of Mario Crosina's decided his long-time ambition to become a licensed pilot had been put off too many times. So he contacted Mario, and both came to Avenal today to get Norm started on his training. First up, though, was a demo flight by Mario and both had a nice long flight showing Norm how much fun it is to fly a glider. WELCOME TO THE CLUB, NORM !!!!

3. Jeff Lowe continued his training and had the chance to see what a strong wind does to glider operations. He did well, didn't go too far downwind, aimed for the middle of the runway and landed safely each time. Nice going, Jeff. You're getting close to solo. Now you need an FAA Student license, and a T-shirt you can be proud to see hanging on the wall of the clubhouse.

4. Peter Sahlberg needed a renewal of his solo privileges and got it today. It was also a good time to practice strong wind landings and he did well. We have a number of pilots in the club nearing their check rides. Peter is one of them, Jerry Badal, Richard Walker, and Jack Wiegand. Sure would like to see all of them get licensed before August. It can be done, so let's all work hard, pass the tests and be proud getting that nice lifetime Pilot's License.

5. The high performance guys were out flying today. Mario Crosina, Steve Schery, and Paul Hanson all launched and were gone for a good while. It was a nice day for soaring, especially in a high performance ship, getting up into the mountains, and working either the shear line or the thermals out of the canyons.

6. Joe Anastasio flew the Blanik today. Didn't remain aloft for too long but had a nice flight. That, after he works on the equipment on behalf of the club. There aren't too many folks who work harder on behalf of the club than Joe. Thanks, Joe

7. Peter Mersino did a "Mud Run" and Lemoore, had time to get to Avenal, then after flight operations ceased Peter and family, and I headed for Harris Ranch for a bite to eat, then they went swimming in the resort pool. Nice way to end the day.   more info

1. Joel Brandon, wife Abby and son all came to the gliderport to take their first glider rides. Unfortunately they had to wait a bit long but in the end at least Joel was able to go flying with Alex Caldwell. Abby put off her flight for another time. We're sorry they had to wait but at least Alex gave Joel a nice long flight with plenty of lift to demonstrate what flying gliders is all about. Joel and Abby live in Avenal and have always seen the gliders soaring over their home. Finally, they decided to see what the fuss was all about. They are both school teachers here and it sure is nice to see Avenal residents come out to go flying. Let's hope they spread the word about our glider activities and how an aircraft without an engine can stay up for so long.

2. I arrived today with four young people. I call them the United Nation's contingent because Seva is an exchange student from Russia, Hendrik is an exchange student from Hamburg, Germany, Hanna is a high school student from the province of Auberry (a real foreign land up north), and Jack is a high school student from an island in the middle of Fresno called Fig Garden. Hendrik and I went aloft first and had a great time with the lift. We'd thermal to 4000+ msl, then he'd fly the glider. After losing altitude, we'd thermal again above 4000 msl and repeat the process for about an hour. At the end we did a quick stint of weightlessness and that got his hat floating above him in the cockpit.

3. Seva and I flew at the end of the day, and took only a pattern tow that resulted in a rather short flight because the thermals weren't all that prevalent at that time of the day. In fact, we were just trying to reposition the glider back to the tie-down area from its position at the launch area. Trying to eke out some lift, I got low and we landed shorter than the tie-down area. At least it gave the young people some exercise.

4. The high performance guys were aloft nearly all day. Mario Crosina launched first, then Steve Schery, and finally, David Pilati. All were gone most of the day and had not returned even when we left at 4:30 pm for Fresno. They must have been up four or five hours. At one point we heard Mario saying he was at 8200 msl and perhaps they got even higher. It was indeed a good day for soaring.

5. Andy Reistetter came out to go flying, and while assembling his glider discovered a link in the elevator connection was broken. That ended his chance to fly his glider, but he was quite happy to have discovered it then rather than later in flight. So he took the 1-26 and had a nice flight after all.

6. Jerry Badal arrived later on and went flying. Here is his story:

Harold,

I had a great experience on Saturday.  I learned a lot, got to see some beautiful sights, and had great fun.  I was up for just over three hours.

Loyal did a very nice job of towing me into strong lift.  In fact, at around 3,000 indicated, we hit two thermals that nearly put me through the top of the canopy.  For a while things were pretty busy in the cockpit as I frantically tried to fly the 1-26 through strong turbulence and cinch down my shoulder straps at the same time.  I learned from that experience that I can cinch them down a lot more than I have been and not be uncomfortable.  I released at 3,800 feet and continued my right turn right into a nice thermal.  I don’t know if the vario in the 1-26 is accurate, but it was showing around 5 knots.  I climbed in this first thermal to over 5,000 feet.  That set me up for the rest of the flight because it gave me time to look for more lift.

 When I began my flight, conditions were very favorable, with good lift being relatively easy to find.  Shortly after climbing to 5,000 feet, I found another thermal and went to 7,000.  From there I lost some altitude in sink, but eventually contacted another thermal that took me to almost 8,000.  I made it over 8,000 feet several times, with my highest altitude being just short of 8,300.  That put me just below cloud base in some visually spectacular settings.  I took some pictures, but they didn’t turn out.  The instrument panel came out great, but the scene outside the canopy was completely washed out.  I’m going to need to learn to use this camera better.

Most of my time was spent between 5,500 and 7,500 feet above the hills, just west of the airport.  I found good lift when I needed it, but more frequently encountered strong sink.  I would thermal up in 2-5 knot lift, painstakingly working my way to altitude, and then almost immediately find myself running from 4-5 knot sink.   

The lift decreased in strength and frequency as the afternoon wore on.  After the first hour, I was working hard to keep altitude.  Thermals were harder to find and easy to lose.  I found I had to be very vigilant and make constant adjustments or I could easily leave a thermal and have a hard time contacting it again.  Even when I stayed in the thermal, the rate of climb was lower than during the first hour.  While I would have loved it if conditions had remained strong, I’m sure I learned a lot more from having to work hard.  I focused on flying efficiently and making well coordinated turns, and learned to dial in to every movement the plane was making.

The day’s highlights included getting over 8,000 feet and working near the cloud base.  I had no idea how much happens to clouds when lift is working underneath them.  They were swirling and roiling and shredding apart.  It was a very impressive sight, when viewed from up close.  Another was learning very positively that when a cumulus cloud is over-developed, it very definitely has the potential to be a sink bomb.  Several times I flew under a dissipating cumulus cloud hoping for residual lift only to find serious sink (which would cost me dearly). 

Another highlight was when the three high-performance ships came by me.  They were flying together and a few times came by me at impressive speeds.  The glass ships were sometimes below me one minute and above me the next.  Other times they were just passing by me on their way to a cloud somewhere I had no hope of reaching.  It was really fun watching those beautiful planes flying in such scenic surroundings.  The three ships were Mario (in a Ventus?); Steve Schery, in his Discus; and David Pilati, in his 1-35.

Thank you for your kind words.  I sure don’t feel like I’m very good at thermaling, but I’m trying to learn.  I listen to everything you tell me and try to put it into practice.

I would love to fly with you in the Blanik to improve my skills and learn about cross country flight.  I am now thoroughly hooked in soaring and can hardly wait to become a competent pilot.

This is an important week for me.  I really need to make progress this week in preparing for my written test or I may have to wait until July.  Wish me luck.  It’s shaping up to be a tough one already.

Thanks for your great instruction.  I have learned a tremendous amount from you and will never forget how much you’ve done for me.

Thanks for the nice photo.   JERRY BADAL

7. I'm not sure why, but I can't understand why we aren't seeing more pilots out there on Saturday. The lift has been great these past months and altitudes over 6-7000 feet have been routine. The skies are severe clear, and clouds often marking thermals. What could be better for soaring pilots? These are the days when flying gliders is better than any other form of recreation, no matter. So, use your membership and come flying. Even if you haven't flown lately a quick refresher flight with an instructor is probably all that is necessary. Don't miss out on this fabulous weather.   more info

1. It was a dark and stormy day. No, actually it really started out as a beautiful day and overdeveloped by mid-afternoon. In spite of the thick cloud base, the lift remained strong and widespread. We seem to have that sort of phenomena at Avenal quite often. Must be the geography or the type of cells that develop around the gliderport. In fact, in late afternoon, the strongest lift was just next to a rather well developed rain storm over the Kettleman Hills, as seen in the photo to the right.

2. Jeff Lowe was out again continuing his flight training. It's going well and he'll be a solo pilot in a matter of weeks. We look forward to that and I know he does, too. We flew one in the morning, then retired to lunch, then flew again in the early afternoon. His coordination is coming along nicely. BTW, you really need to get to know Jeff. He's an amazing guy and has talent to spare. He plays guitar quite well, does magic tricks, sleight of hand, has flown model gliders, has a RC pickup truck, not so small, and a whole host of other talents and skills he keeps showing us each week. I keep wondering what else he can do or has done in the past. I'm sure we'll eventually find out.

3. Gene Thompson came back to California for a visit and had enough time to come back with me to Avenal. We really had time for only one flight and so we took the Blanik since the Orange Crush was scheduled for its annual. Gene like the Blanik and we had a nice long, nearly one hour flight getting quite high towards cloud base.

4. Hanna traveled to Avenal with Gene and I and helped out a lot around the field. She was especially helpful to Joe Anastasio and Mike Schoenau who were doing the annual on the Orange Crush.

5. Jerry Badal brought his brother, David, and David's daughter, Kailey, to Avenal to fly gliders for the first time. David went first and we were both disappointed at the lack of lift in the area. We landed with only a few weak thermals to show for our efforts. I mentioned to David that some time ago, the same thing happened to a demo flight, and the very next demo found great lift. Well, wouldn't you know it. I took his daughter, Kailey up and we found lift everywhere. Our flight lasted nearly an hour and we were up for as long as we wanted to be. We took photos of Jerry thermalling in the 1-26 and in general, just had fun climbing and flying around, then climbing again, for most of the flight. I sure wish David could have experienced that same flight but by the time we got down, it was late afternoon and they needed to return to Fresno. Sorry, David, and I promise the next time we'll hit those thermals we missed today.

6. Jerry had a nice flight in the 1-26, experiencing more than 10 knots of lift several times. Most of the time, he was well above us as Kailey and I circled in his thermal. Once in awhile we got lucky and out climbed him, but that wasn't the norm. We both had fun, sharing thermals, and finding great lift.

7. It was a successful day of soaring with good heights and if one was flying a glass ship, some long distance was possible even with the overdevelopment.   more info

1. The CCSC club meeting focused on how to go forward with the towing based on the fact that Loyal will be leaving in the next few months and we need to find another source for our gliders. We didn't resolve much in the meeting but Richard Walker seemed to indicate that at least the topic is seriously being looked at now by all the members. More on this as it develops.

2. Jeff Lowe continued his flight training, this time concentrating on stalls, and more of the stick and rudder practice in the form of finding and staying in thermals. Every once in awhile, Jeff likes a cold blast of air so he opens the canopy and we enjoy the cool air aloft. In case you're wondering, yes, the glider flies quite well with or without the canopy open.

3. Hanna and her prom date, Brad Miranda, were at Avenal today. Hanna flew the Cherokee 140 out to Avenal with Brad in the back seat as passenger. He video taped the flight and therefore Hanna had to demonstrate her skills with a perfect landing at Avenal. They flew together in the Orange Crush after lunch, then had to return to Fresno to get ready for the evening dinner and prom. It was earlier than I wanted to return so Peter Mersino obliged and flew back with them in the 140.. I stayed on at Avenal hopefully long enough to fly my own glider.

4. As mentioned, the Mersino family (well, almost all of them) drove out to Avenal both to fly and so Peter could return with Hanna and Brad. While they were here, Jacob and Andrea flew several times in the Blanik, had some fun aloft, didn't remain up there for too long, and generally helped out where necessary around the field. Then at the end of the day, Jacob drove Andrea and I back to Fresno where I picked up my car.

5. The reason for the switch was my intention to fly my glider for a change. I haven't flown it in months and I need to remain current in high performance sailplanes. So, in addition to it being a necessity, it was also welcome fun. I flew for an hour and hovered around 5000 msl out in the mountains. Not a great flight but good to be alone in such a beautiful ship.

6. After the CCSC meeting, Mario and others went to the runway launch area and began staking the numbers on the ground for the Soaring Camp that starts next Wednesday. They carefully measured out enough positions to handle the expected entrants.

7. Andy Reistetter flew the 1-26 after the meeting and actually went up several times, reporting not as much lift as I had experienced earlier in the day with my student, Jeff Lowe.

8. Steve Schery went aloft and I was planning on joining up with him for some cross country flying. But as usual, I didn't get aloft until very late, and about the time I launched, Steve was on his way back to the field. So we never connected but Steve did have a nice long flight, I believe over two hours.

9. Roque Serpa really did show up. Don't faint, it's true. He's alive and well and just might show up again to continue his interrupted soaring career. It would be nice, indeed, to see him back in a glider soaring over the mountains.

10. Jerry Badal also was on hand and flew the 1-26, not finding much lift. Of course, in the 1-26 one cannot venture too far without finding lift so the search area is a bit limited compared to other higher performance sailplanes.

11. Royson Parsons and his daughter, Erin, attended the club meeting as a wonderful show of interest in all things connected to the CCSC. They then both went out and helped Mario layout the launch grid for the Soaring Camp. Erin decided not to fly today but she and her Dad will be back again soon.   more info

1. One of the big objectives of the day for Joe Anastasio and Richard Walker was to get the wind-destroyed superstructure down from its precarious position half-way up in the air. They finally accomplished the task with help from Loyal's tractor and heavy chains hooked a portion of the steel. Richard also brought his torch to cut some of the steel beams in order to disassemble it for moving it out of the area. Thanks, guys, for all that help.

2. Jeff Lowe was out again today and is on his way to a license. He's a very determined fellow and I'm sure will be a solo pilot in no time. His rate of progress is excellent and he really understands the maneuver stuff. It's a pleasure teaching him and for the CCSC he'll make a very good club member. We flew twice and he took most of the tow, doing markedly better on tow the second time even though by that time, the bumps had become more numerous.

3. Once Jeff's training ended, we all had lunch at the King's Video store because Debbie's was closed for the weekend. Seems that Avenal was celebrating Old Timers Day and had a parade in the morning. So some of the stores closed because folks couldn't get to their stores until after the parade.

4. After lunch most of the pilots launched. There were no gliders left on the ground, except for the deteriorating Lark. Jerry Badal used the Orange Crush while Carl Kunz used the 1-26. Joe Anastasio and Alex Caldwell used the Blanik, and Richard Walker launched in his Schweizer 1-35.

5. Just about 30 minutes after Jerry Badal launched in the Orange Crush, Andrea and Jennifer Mersino arrived. You may recall that Mother and Daughter soloed together on the same day back on February 24th, 2007. They haven't been out very much since then, but today they arrived and wanted to go flying to renew their solo privileges. Trouble is, the Orange Crush is the only 2-33 we have and it departed shortly before they arrived with Jerry Badal piloting and thinking there was no one behind him waiting for the glider. At first the girls didn't mind waiting but after the HOURS rolled by it was clear that Jerry was having an excellent flight. So, three and one-half hours later Jerry landed and we only had time for Andrea's flight because they had to get back to Fresno. Maybe next time we'll organize a bit better.

6. Next weekend the club needs to take a vote and decide on how to mover forward with the tow plane issue. We need to do something because Loyal plans to move to Hawaii sometime in the next year, according to him. We used to think it was imminent but the last conversation with him led us to believe it may not be so imminent after all. Time will tell.   more info

1. The Board of CCSC met today to discuss some important issues. One is the idea that we may, after all, conduct a "contest" of sorts this year, but call it a Camp instead. It might be too late for any large scale attendance but let's hope we get a few interested pilots. Mario will be conducting the Camp but not flying because his foot is still healing. Those attending the meeting today were Richard Walker, Joe Anastasio, Loyal Savaria, Dave Martin, Paul Hanson, Jerry Smeltzer, Mario Crosina, and Don Van Wyk.

2. Carl Kunz joined the club today and he's a really great guy to have on board. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWEST MEMBER, CARL KUNZ !! Carl is a United Pilot on the Boeing 777 based out of San Francisco. He's been a glider pilot for many years, early on up at Sky Sailing in Fremont, CA. While his CFIG has expired we may be able to convince him to reinstate it and become part of our Flight Instructor group. We need CFIG's less in name only and more in being onsite to help with building the club.

3. William "Bill" Deviny came out again today and went for his first glider ride. He said he really liked the feeling of soaring and might just become a member and learn to fly. He works on the North Slope in Alaska two weeks on and two weeks off so his training will be in two-week spurts. He's another good guy we'd like to have onboard and hope he makes that decision. He's promised to fly again when his next two-weeks off occurs.

4. Jack Wiegand and I flew out to Avenal in the Cherokee 140 and spent the day mostly helping others. Near the end of the day, Jack and I flew in the Orange Crush but got off early, then fought the turbulent wind all the way back to the field. It wasn't one of Avenal's better days for smooth and high-lift flying.

5. Steve Schery flew today and was up a fairly long time. While he didn't get too far cross country he did manage to remain aloft for as long as he wanted.

6. Carl Kunz had fun flying the 1-26 for the first time in many years. He did well, no PIO's on takeoff, and managed to find enough thermals to have fun and some good time aloft.

7. Bruce Patton assembled his HP-18 and also went flying up into the mountains both north and south. But he's an experienced soaring pilot, especially here at Avenal and knows the terrain quite well. So we would expect him to be more successful than others today.
8. Surprise, surprise. Jerry Badal came out again to Avenal. This is truly amazing since his work often keeps him occupied even on the weekends. This time I think he is really serious about earning his license. He's studying and he's flying far more than I have ever seen him fly in the past. And by the way, he's doing very well, with high flights to altitude, and long flights in the area. He's really getting the hang of thermaling and each week seems to do better than the previous week. One of these days soon Jerry Badal will be our newest licensed pilot.   more info

1. Indeed it was a fun day for all who managed to get out here. You know the old cliché, "You shoulda' been here today". Well, that was true in all respects today since anyone who wanted to get high or go far could have done so. In fact, three pilots actually achieved Silver Badge altitude, getting up to 8400 msl after starting low. Silver gain is 3281 feet above your lowest altitude. But to claim the badge they needed to have either a data logger or a barograph trace, neither of which they carried with them. But that's OK since the achievement is what counts. The Badge comes later.

2. Jerry Badal and Cliff Stone both hit 8400 msl. It was the highest Jerry has ever soared in a glider and it was the highest Cliff has been in a glider in over 25 years. So CONGRATULATIONS TO JERRY AND CLIFF !!!

3. Steve Schery also hit 8400 msl but I believe he has been doing that any time the conditions are right. He flies often at Avenal, and during the week, so he can take advantage of the great lift conditions when they occur. Still, a gain of that magnitude isn't to be made light of. Nice going, Steve.

4. Richard Walker soared a long time and gained to 6300 msl. Depending on how low he got before he arrived at that altitude, he also might have gained Silver Badge altitude. It would seem that way if he just got lower than 3000 msl. before climbing to 6300 msl.

5. Rich Miller in his LP-49 had a wonderful flight. He got to 7200 msl, a sure Silver Badge gain, then flew 75 nm and was up for 2.5 hours. He headed north to Harris Ranch, then along the Kettleman Hills, then south to the intersection of 41 and 33, then back north again, just flying around with all that nice altitude to spare.

6. Meanwhile, Jeff Lowe started his flight training in earnest today. We took a high tow, then started doing basic maneuvers. When we got low, we'd thermal back up again to around 4500 msl, then do more maneuvers. Then after another loss of altitude, we'd thermal up again, and kept that going for a nice long training session. He's coming along fine and is more than dedicated to getting his license. Stay tuned for Jeff because his first solo won't be too far in the future.

7. Kathleen Morse was here today training in the 1-26 in preparation for her eventual flight in her recently purchased ASW-19. She's gong about it in the right way, getting solo time in both the 1-26 and the Blanik and gaining the right kind of experience for her ASW-19 solo day. Keep up the good work, Kathleen.

8. Joe Anastasio and JB Jones were out today and both just enjoying the beautiful weather and quiet of our wonderful gliderport.

9. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HANNA !!! Yes, it is Hanna's birthday today and for her birthday, her parents bought her a chance to defy gravity. But gravity won and she came back down to earth, most of the time at terminal velocity. A skydiving trip to Taft, CA, with Mom and friends, and would you believe it? Her Mom jumped out of a perfectly good airplane as did Hanna. Hmmmm. Not sure of the genetics there, they both used to seem like normal humans, not mental patients, but after Saturday morning at Taft, I'm no longer sure about their mental stability. Nice to see they survived and showed up at Avenal in the afternoon just to let us enjoy a MOST DELICIOUS chocolate cake baked my Hanna's Mom, Toy Marlette. Wow, was it GOOD !!! Later on, early evening, we stopped at Harris Ranch for a celebration dinner and then headed home in the dark. It certainly was a long day for the two of them but they held up under the strain quite well.

10. Loyal is still towing and may be doing that for the rest of this year since he has no imminent plans to move to Hawaii. Durval showed up in his Cessna 140, helped out for a time, then headed home mid-afternoon.   more info

1. Cliff Stone, one of our power instructors who meet on Friday mornings, came out to Avenal for the second time and was greeted by an old friend he had flown with out of San Francisco, Karl Kunz. Both of them are Captains for United Air Lines, based at SFO. Karl flies the Boeing 777 and Cliff flies the Airbus A320. Turns out that Karl is an experienced glider pilot as is Cliff and meeting one another at Avenal was quite a coincidence. We're happy they did and hope that meeting will cement Karl's intentions to join our club and start showing us less-experienced guys how it's done. Welcome you two !!! CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWEST CLUB MEMBER, CLIFF STONE!!

2. Karl and friend, John Craver, flew to Avenal in John's beautiful, shiny Cessna 170. But that won't be for long since John has already committed to selling the Cessna. Seems Karl also flies his own 170 and perhaps that will bring them both back to Avenal for fun and soaring.

3. Frank Owen brought two friends with him, Chuck Jennings and David Shelton. They went flying with Frank a bit and later on Chuck flew with me as his first official flight instruction. I hope he continues towards his rating since he did well on our flight. We were up quite a long time and he got all the thermalling he wanted.

4. Jack Wiegand and Hanna Marlette flew out in the Cherokee 140 with me and they each took turns flying different segments. At Avenal both flew but Jack did more flying, thermalling in 10 knot lift up above 7000. Hanna flew with me but this time in the back seat and did the photography while I flew from the front, an unusual position for me.

5. Cliff Stone and I flew in the Orange Crush, and while I sat in the back and did nothing, Cliff thermalled us up just beyond 6600 msl. A very nice flight and demonstration of how little skill Cliff lost during the past 25 years since he flew gliders regularly. Nice flight, Cliff.

6. Karl Kunz and I also flew together. As with Cliff, I sat in the back and watched the show while Karl displayed his glider flying talents. He did so well that if he decides to join the club, he'll be on his own immediately.

7. John Craver and I flew a demo flight but didn't stay up very long. I just picked the wrong areas to look for lift and although we did do some thermalling, most of the flight was either zero or sink. I had hoped to get John back in the air for a longer flight but he and Karl had to get back to Monterey early. Perhaps another day and I'll get John aloft for more of a flight.

8. Alex Caldwell was flying the Boy Scouts all morning in the Blanik. He does this nice community service several times a year and I'm sure they all appreciate his contribution. And for us, it exposes more of our central valley residents to the fun at Avenal.

9.  More of our club members were out today. Richard Walker flew his Schweizer 1-35, Jerry Smeltzer flew the 1-26 (I think), Don Van Wyk feeling much better these days and coming out to Avenal more after his recovery. Paul Hanson flying his SZD-59. We appreciate all our members and hope to see many more of them as the weather warms up and the thermals get much higher.   more info

1. "The Gang" came out for demo flights, organized by their leader, Jeff Lowe. They had flown gliders previously, at Santa Ynez and decided to try Avenal's soaring conditions. None are gilder pilots but Jeff is determined to become one. They were a fun group, and gave is all reason to smile. That, combined with the surprise party for Hanna, made for an enjoyable afternoon for everyone. Jeff and Margo Lowe, Bettye and Mike Landino, and Kristin Brown, 17 years old, all from Los Osos except for Kristi who will soon reside there. The lift was good enough to keep all of them up for nearly an hour each flight.

2. Even before "The Gang" came out to fly, Ron Marlette wanted to surprise Hanna with a party on the CCSC Patio in honor of her acceptance into the Air Force Academy. But we were having a difficult time trying to figure out how to get Hanna in the air in order for Ron and family to arrive and get the party set up. Finally we decided that Alex Caldwell would take Hanna for a glider ride as congratulations from him for her achievement. But before we could get that one figured out, Ron and crew arrived in the town of Avenal and called me about Hanna. We gave him a 15 minute delay, then got Hanna into the air, and Ron descended on the patio. When Hanna got back on the ground, she noticed nothing at first. Then remarked that there seemed to be an unusual number of people at Avenal for a Saturday. At this point she was out at the launch line having just arrived there. And the crowd was beginning to walk out to her glider. Then she recognized one of the group, then slowly another one, then finally realized she knew the entire crowd. Even then it didn't seem to dawn on her what the group was all about. But that didn't take long to sink in. She says she was completely surprised by the party, had no idea, and was quite pleased. All of her family were there, and they set about cooking a barbeque of hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, chips, etc. Good fun and a great congratulations party for Hanna. Unfortunately I missed it all, being in the air for about 3.5 hours with demo rides. And they were fun, too.

3. Joe Anastasio needed a BFR so Alex Caldwell obliged with three flights and the ground session. They used the Orange Crush later in the afternoon when all other flights had been accomplished.

4. An historic event took place today. Hanna Marlette, a licensed pilot at 17 years young, took Jack Wiegand, a solo pilot at 15 years young, for a glider ride. They are very good friends and have talked about flying together for many months. Finally, there they were ready to launch on a flight no one could have foreseen two years ago. Naturally Hanna and Jack flew exceedingly well, stayed up for a nice flight and landed quite well all the way back to the launch area. Great going, you two!!!

5. Royson Parsons and his daughter Erin, arrived at Avenal so that Erin could begin her flight training. She had her first lesson March 27, but that was primarily to see if she wanted to continue her training. She decided to go forward and get the license and we're happy to have her as out new Club member and newest training pilot. She did very well on both flights, has a nice touch on the controls, listens to directions carefully, follows them faithfully, and I expect her to solo long before she thinks she is ready. Keep up the good work, Erin, and thanks go to her Dad, a power Pilot, for supporting her great interest in aviation.

6. Steve Schery in his Discus, had a nice four-hour flight today. It was just one of those days for lift in a wide area. Fun for all, and staying up wasn't a problem for anyone.   more info

1. As you can see, it didn't take Jerry Badal long to experience the feeling of helplessness when one realizes that after turning final, you won't make it over the fence and onto the airport grounds. He made a good decision and landed safely in the field with both pilot and glider undamaged, except perhaps for some ego bruising. It was a windy day at Avenal and good for student training. Jerry did well on his first flight with me, then did quite well on his second by himself. But Jerry's third flight proved to be the one where more learning took place. It's actually good to have a student landout safely in order to break the ice of not landing back at Avenal. As he begins to go cross country he is not likely to do so with as much trepidation as if he hadn't landed out. So, it was a good flight and a learning experience.

2. The retrieval of the glider wasn't a learning experience, however. We've done that sort of thing before and it doesn't get any more interesting. Just a week prior, the farmer had plowed the once hard field into a soft, loamy sort of dirt pile that made walking and pulling the glider a real chore. We got it through the fence out at the boundary of the fence line and Highway 33, then wondered how we were going to get it back on the airport proper. Towing it along Highway didn't seem like the best option since we'd have to get the Sheriff's department to halt traffic for 20 minutes or so. But the other route had a drainage ditch that we didn't think we could navigate. But that was our only real option so we proceeded on blind faith. Finally after finding an old rug and putting it in the bottom of the ditch we were able to pull the glider safely across with no damage to the underside.

3. Jerry and I had traveled to Avenal on Friday assuming we'd be the only ones at the field. But surprisingly enough, there were others on hand, including Roy Norman, Steve Schery, Kathleen Morse and her new husband, Jeremy Zawodny. The lift was OK, not great, but those who did fly at least had a good time.

4. Kathleen and Jeremy had about four flights in the Blanik with Kathleen doing most of the flying. She has purchased an ASW-19 and was going to fly a few higher performance gliders before trying her first flight in the -19.

5. Steve Schery was here today and assembled his Discus. He took off and was gone for several hours up and down the mountains to the northwest and southeast along the Kettleman Hills. He had an excellent flight in time but not too high in altitude.

6. On Saturday the wind was still blowing but not as much as Friday. Richard Walker showed up to help out around the Club and ultimately fly his Schweizer 1-35. He managed to stay aloft a fair amount of time but the thermals today weren't very good and not very prevalent. Most of those here today had trouble finding the lift and staying up. The thermals were in evidence because of the dust devils, but finding them and remaining inside them proved to be elusive for most today.

7. Jerry Smeltzer and Roy Norman both tried flights during the day and were not successful in remaining aloft much time at all. It was a bit frustrating because the conditions seemed just right for good soaring, but it wasn't. Steve Schery seemed to think it was because of an inversion layer not too high above the valley. Perhaps that's the reason, but most didn't find good lift.

8. Curtis Modin came out to fly and after going aloft with me and doing well he tried a few solo flights. The last flight proved to be a bit more difficult since he carried too much speed and altitude on final to runway 13. His first touchdown was a bit hard and he bounced back up airborne again. Then he got into a PIO (Pilot Induced Oscillation) several times, and finally came to rest with plenty of runway left before the fence. It was rough for him because up to that time his judgment about altitude and airspeed was very good. I guess he was as surprised as anyone when he arrived down on the runway with so much energy left over. Then, trying to dissipate that energy resulted in an inelegant landing. But it was an important learning experience since at one time or another everyone has to recognize that energy management in a glider is far more important than the same energy management in a powered aircraft.

9. We had a visit from Kevin Rose? and his daughters. Kevin works and lives on the base at Vandenberg commanding a section there that I didn't get too clearly at the time I talked to him. He has been at Vandenberg for several years and didn't know there was a glider port at Avenal. But he's due to be transferred soon and won't get the chance to come out and go soaring.

10. It wasn't a great weekend at Avenal but the warmth, clear skies, good friends, and good food at Debbie's makes for an enjoyable day. Come on out and see for yourself why Avenal is the best place to be on any weekend.   more info

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.   more info

1. Hanna Marlette and Jack Wiegand flew the Cherokee to and from Avenal today. It was such a beautiful Saturday with the hills all green and the weeds not yet too obnoxious. While the lift wasn't great, the sky was clear, and air mostly smooth. A good day for training and we did get a bit of that done.

2. Frank and Luke Owen also arrived via power plane and it was Luke's chance to continue his flight training started just three weeks ago. Since he did so well last two times, I wanted to stretch his skills and we did the flight with as much control as Luke wanted to exercise. He began by flying the tow, then we did more elaborate maneuvers aloft. Pushing him to do more, he then flew the pattern and landing. It was not a walk i