SATURDAY, February 13, 2016.

WEATHER
Visibility: A bit hazy but still 30 miles
Wind: 3-5 kts from the NW early, a bit more brisk later on, from the North
Altitudes: Tow release altitudes
Time Aloft: About 40 minutes
Max Lift: A few saw up to 3 kts.
Temperature: High 70's
Comment: Operations back at wonderful Avenal. Yay!!
Tow pilot: Steel butt Frank Owen.

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It was just a beautiful day at Avenal. And the grass is covering all the bare turf so it looks like we laid down synthetic turf. A nice covering, though, for St. Patrick's Day coming soon. But let's begin at the beginning. Yesterday Peter Mersino and I flew to Coalinga, where we met Harry Davies for the return of the tow plane and glider to Avenal. The transfer was easy and Harry got to do a bit of flying even after tow. So he enjoyed the transfer as much as Peter and I.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Using Harry Davies car to tow the glider to the launch intersection at Coalinga.

We waited here for Peter Mersino in the tow plane to taxi into position just to the left of the intersection shown.

Harry has just arrived at Avenal after being towed from Coalinga and gliding a bit.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

There was a lot of activity today, both in the south hangar working on Big Bird, as well as on the field where there were more than 16 tows, two powered aircraft visited, three high performance gliders launched as well as the hard-working Orange Crush. A new visitor lately, Matt Stelmas, started his return to flying gliders with several checkout flights with Dan Gudgel. And the hard working guys in the Big Bird hangar, Martin Caskey, Jim Rickey, Richard Walker, and Larry Johnson, all deserve a whole lot of credit because they could have been flying but chose instead to work on the last few items before the new launch of Big Bird.

Dan Gudgel and Matt Stelmas getting the cobwebs out of Matt's glider skills.

Jeff Richardson assembling the club's DG 100 for a warm afternoon flight.

Mike Paoli working on his Libelle in preparation for the coming soaring season.

In the background is Matt Stelmas' Cessna 182 he flew down from Alaska.

Matt going over the many notes he took while flying with Dan Gudgel.

Alex Caldwell and Sergio Grajeda taking another training flight in preparation for his solo.

Andy Reistetter helping Joe Anastasio assemble the PW-5

Tireless Frank Owen taking a break between tows. He is indefatigable.

Richard Walker and Larry Johnson working on the tail feathers for our new Big Bird.

Jim Rickey and Martin Caskey worked all day on this beautifully restored SGS 2-33.

Alex and Sergio landed after a good flight while Frank Owen waits for more instructions.

Jeff Richardson runs the wing for another training flight with Alex and Sergio.

Yes, the sun was that bright, and the day warm, and a few took advantage of it.

Frank Owen slowly takes up the rope slack in preparation for the Orange Crush launch.

The dust shown here wasn't too bad because of all the grass covering the dirt runway.

Sergio waits for another flight while Yutaka Buto, Frank Owen, and Alex Caldwell chat.

Matt Stelmas heading back to Paso Robles in his bush-flying Cessna 182.

Harry Davies takes his turn in the Orange Crush with Sergio holding the glider down.

Frank, Yutaka, and Alex had a nice, warm afternoon conversation about flying, naturally.

Frank Owen is towing Harry Davies in the Orange Crush on runway 31.

Harry Davies on tow just above the clubhouse at Avenal.

Harry in a thermalling turn where he managed to stay up about 40 minutes in weak lift.

Oooopps!!!

Yes, a landout in the southeast field. Harry touched down softly and rolled back to the perimeter.

 Here is Harry Davies story of his short landout:

After a fun and exciting day of mostly gliding and a bit of soaring, I decided to write my first blog post for a flight. Normally, I’m not inclined to document a flight so publicly. In this case, however, the prospect of trusting Harold’s well-meaning but too-accurate version of events is sufficiently daunting to prompt a few words of my own.

I launched solo in the 2-33 for a 3k tow. The high work portion was uneventful, except to say that I used it as an opportunity to practice for my checkride. I’m happy to report (pay attention here Mr. Gudgel) that I was able to complete all of the maneuvers well within the Practical Test Standards (stop reading entirely here Mr. Gudgel).

 

The flight became interesting as I made my way back to the IP. At the IP, I noted two things in particular on the airfield. First, the windsock was showing a stiff wind out of the North. Second, I saw Yutaka Buto standing near the launch area anxiously awaiting the 2-33’s return, which prompted me to expedite operations. As I began my pattern for a runway 31 landing, I extended downwind to a 45-degree sight picture familiar to any power pilot. I then executed a textbook turn to base and final, perfectly meeting my target altitudes and airspeed.

At this point, I ran some calculus on my knee-board and determined my best course of action was to completely retract the dive brakes. I then contacted “Avenal Tower” and requested an elevator approach to a precision landing. It was approved as requested, so I began an expeditious descent. Accounting for a number of factors, my landing roll calculation made selecting a landing zone fairly trivial. I made my initial touchdown precisely 165 feet south of CA69 in calf-height grass. Adjusting my roll-out direction to avoid known obstacles, I was able to stop the main wheel of the 2-33 precisely on the property boundary.

As Harold photo-documented my accomplishment, Yutaka assisted me in pulling the 2-33 the short distance to the launch area. Before we knew it, the 2-33 was hooked up and on tow again. It was, easily, the shortest retrieve of the entire day. Additionally, the matted grass in the farmer’s field left a perfect trail for me to wander back and pick up my pride.

In all seriousness, I was fortunate that an unintended landout did not result in anything worse than a bruised ego. My sincerest thanks to the CalPoly Akafliegers for their cleanup work in recent weeks. Without a clear approach, my OAV (that’s Off Airport Vehicle, for those unfamiliar) ride could have been much less fun. Oh, and to quote Harold: “Never turn base past the end of the runway on a high wind day.” Lesson learned. I now humbly submit this flight for the consideration of the CCSC Awards Committee.

Harry Davies

Rick Eason in his immaculate RV-9A preparing to return to Merced.

Richard Walker preparing for launch in his Schweizer 1-35 with Frank helping.

Harry Davies defending his arrival on the perimeter, with Sergio Grajeda and Rick Eason as witnesses.

Luke Bughman taking a pattern tow to insure his skills have not declined in eight weeks.

Griff Malloy on the right wing also had a skill enhancer flight  due to being away for many weeks.

Jeff Richardson preparing for launch in the DG 100.

The concentration is evident while Jeff goes over the final pre-launch checklist.

OK, all is ready, wing up, while the tow plane takes up rope slack.

Finally, Joe Anastasio gets to fly his PW-5. 

While Joe readies his glider, Luke Bughman prepares to launch in the Orange Crush.

Two unidentified observers await Joe Anastasio's launch.

Good concentration on the critical items to check before launching

Yutaka Buto hooks up while Griff Malloy stands by for canopy close and wing running.

Joe is lined up and ready to launch in the PW-5 behind Frank Owen in the towplane.

Its soooo nice launching on a nice smooth grass strip. Everything is easier and gentler.

Luke Bughman taking his second flight to pattern altitude.

Jeff Richardson on base for runway 31, about to turn final.

Jeff is lined up on final with enough height to clear the folks at the end of the runway.

Rick Eason taking off on runway 31, heading back to Merced to start painting the 1-26.

Harry Davies had another go at it in the Orange Crush. 

Joe landed after a flight of 30 minutes or so. At least he had fun.

Harry still circling in very weak lift. Probably only zero sink.

Time to put away all the toys and head home.

It was a fun day, everyone had something to do whether flying, towing, assembling the Big Bird, or just working around the field. There is always plenty of work to do, and with the wire buried, the front gate is now useful and preferable instead of going around the towplane hangar to arrive or exit.

See you all next week,

Harold Gallagher

SATURDAY, January 23-30, 2016

WEATHER
Visibility: Mostly clear with some haze after a few foggy days.
Wind: On the 23rd and 24th, mild. On the 30th, a strong crosswind, 15G22kts
Altitudes: Tow heights only.
Time Aloft: 30 minutes on the 24th.
Max Lift:1-2 kts.
Temperature: Cool, in the 60's
Comment: Moved operations to Coalinga
Tow pilot: Jim Rickey, Frank Owen.

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They did it!!!

What, you say, did they do? Something that hasn't been done in my time in the club (Since 1992).

They, Cal Poly students Troy Wollman and Neiman Walker recovered a lost rope that had separated shortly after takeoff. Most of the time, we never recover a rope that has separated in flight. If we're over a plowed field, the rope just buries itself straight in and we never find it. Once in awhile, we'll find a small end of it snagged on the barbed wire fence. But mostly we never retrieve either the rope or the expensive hardware that is more difficult to replace. The story follows after the pictures taken on Saturday the 23rd.

Sergio and Alex landing on runway 1 at Coalinga.

Bringing the glider back to runway 12/30 for continuing launches.

Jim Rickey inspecting the steel skid plate, worn too badly to continue operations on the 23rd.

Jenn Bauman ready to launch on runway 30 at Coalinga.

Jenn doing good work staying aloft for half an hour in very weak lift.

Happy to have completed the flight but now ready to go aloft by herself.

Jesse McClintock helping Jenn get launched for her solo flight at Coalinga.

Frank Owen and Jesse waiting for Jim Rickey to get into position in the tow plane.

Nice wide open spaces off the end of runway 30 as Jenn Bauman prepares her glider.

Jenn had a nice flight all alone and it made her feel a lot better than just before launch.

Off she goes behind Jim Rickey in the tow plane.

Off the runway and setting up a crab to account for the right cross wind on runway 30 at Coalinga.

Jennifer fueling the towplane at the end of flight operations on the 23rd of January.

Because of the worn skidplate we weren't sure if any operations could take place on Sunday. But they did find a spare plate in the clubhouse and Jim Rickey installed it. So, operations were on for the next day, Sunday.

In the meantime, Troy Wollman and Neiman Walker sent a text telling us that they had examined the Go-Pro video and determined that they could estimate rather closely, where the rope might have landed after breaking from the tow plane.

Here's his email:

After analyzing footage from the rope break flight, Neiman and I believe that we have determined the location of the rope. The dark green shroud is where it most likely fell. The lighter areas are possible as well, although less likely. The video shows the rope "snapping back" from the towplane towards the glider. This was likely sufficient to release the rope. We placed a pin on the map directly below where the glider was flying at this moment. GPS coordinates included. Maybe a few people want to walk over with phones or a GPS and see if we are correct? 

36°10'34.78"N

120°17'46.83"W

-- 

Troy Wollman

An overview of the area showing the possible location in relation to the Coalinga airport.

The dark green is the best estimate of where the rope fell. They found it in that exact area.

And there it is folks!!! Fortunately it didn't bury itself in soft earth, to be lost forever.

I'm not sure but whoever this is must have fainted at the surprise of finding the rope.

On Sat, Jan 30, 2016 at 6:56 PM, Troy Wollman <troywoll@gmail.com> wrote:

We were able to recover the broken rope from Coalinga today. We usually record our flights using GoPro cameras. On this particular flight, Neiman was wearing a camera with a headstrap. We accidentally tipped the camera too far forward, which was serendipitous for this flight, because it gave us a clear view of the rope break. Notice in the video that there are two distinct sounds; the rope breaking and the release opening. 

https://youtu.be/1ZT4TlcXLZ4

We found the rope about 300 ft from where we expected it to be. At least we can keep the weak link and hardware.

-- 

Troy Wollman

Meanwhile back at the Avenal assembly hangar, Jan Zanutto, Martin Caskey, and Jim Rickey were busy getting Big Bird back on its wheel. As Jan mentioned, it's getting so much closer to flying again and we are all waiting anxiously for that to happen. Thanks to all those who worked on the project.

The main wheel is just about to touch down for the first time in a long time.

It's beginning to look like a glider again, a beautifully restored glider at that.

Not sure whether glider operations will continue at Coalinga or head back to Avenal. As expected, it's a lot easier to conduct glider operations at Avenal, safer, and less wear and tear on the glider. Maybe the weekend of February 6-7 we'll move back to Avenal.


Harold Gallagher

SATURDAY, January 16, 2016 Written by Andrew Palmer

WEATHER
Visibility: 25 SM+ under the overcast
Wind: Light breeze from the southeast
Altitudes: None
Time Aloft: None
Max Lift: None
Temperature: 62 deg. F maximum
Comment: No flying today!
Tow pilot: None

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Click on the photos for larger sizes of all photos.

The Akafliegers were out in force today. After a long and relaxing Christmas break, the Cal Poly students returned to Avenal ready for a full year of flying.  Jennifer Bauman, Troy Wollman, Neiman Walker, Luke Bughman, Griff Malloy, Jesse McClintock, Andrew Palmer, and Beth Hotchkiss came to the field despite the warnings of inclement weather. They used their time at Avenal to clear the launch end of the field of tumbleweeds and larger plants to allow more gliders to line up and thus hopefully decrease the time between launches. There were also plans to inspect the winch line more closely by running it out along the field and looking for surface tears or fuzzy sections of the spectra but due to the muddy field this was postponed for a later weekend.

The Cal Poly group decided to work around the field when the flying wasn't going to happen.

A selfie taken by Jennifer Bauman showing the group hard at work at the launch end of runway 31.

A contest to see how far one could throw the remnants of weeds at the launch end

Not sure who won the contest but the weeds were gotten rid of nevertheless.

Mostly wrapping up the work at the end of the day.

The field was slimy on the surface with some definitive muddy spots in the morning. As the day warmed up, the field dried a little but it was still far too wet to even drive the golf cart on the main strip. Some of the Akafliegers worked to remove some of the ruts that had been created during ops the previous week and were fairly successful at smoothing them out before the ground became too dry to pack down later in the afternoon.

Jim, Martin, and Dan also came to Avenal to check on the performance of the towplane and to possibly give it a test flight. The towplane did start up and ran to their satisfaction. Martin and Jim checked the field all day to find a 600’ stretch to use for a towplane test flight, but unfortunately it was determined that the field was still too wet even at the end of the day to risk getting ruts on the field.

            A working day at Avenal! Even though there was no flying to be had, spirits were high and at the end of the day the field and the towplane were ready for another great year of soaring!

--Andrew Palmer

Saturday, January 23, 2016

WEATHER
Visibility: Unlimited
Wind: 5-10 kts out of the N.
Altitudes: 2000 AGL
Time Aloft: 20 min.
Max Lift: brief periods of zero sink
Temperature: in the 60s at maximum.
Comment: We operated out of New Coalinga due to the recent muddy field conditions at Avenal.
Tow pilot: Frank Owen

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Due to the more  frequent rains and muddy field conditions limiting our operations this winter, it was decided to move our Saturday operations temporarily to New Coalinga Airport.  We had a good turn out Saturday, with several of the Cal Poly Students, known as "Akafliegers",  showing up. Among them were Jennifer Bauman, Troy Wollman, Neiman Walker, Jesse McClintock and Andrew Palmer.   They all flew with Harold Gallagher.  Sergio Grajeda from Avenal also came out and flew with Alex Caldwell.  Also there were stalwarts  Jim Rickey, Morgan Hall, Martin Caskey and Dennis Lyons. The wind all day was from about 30 deg. magnetic, which resulted in an almost exact 90 deg. cross wind on either runway 30 or 12, a condition that is fairly common at New Coalinga. At first, it looked like it was windy enough to make operating on runway 1 more favorable,  due to it's being aligned better with the wind direction. We did one cross wind take off on runway 30 and landed on  runway 1. After one flight from runway 1, it appeared that the wind was decreasing and was only about 5-10 kts, so we moved back to runway 30,  and ended up operating from the midfield taxiway the rest of the day.  The wind did not change much in strength or direction the whole rest of the afternoon.  On one flight, there was a "for real" rope break. It happened that Nieman Walker was recording a video of his flight  and recorded the incident. The Cal Poly Akaqflieg students, including Luke Bughman, Griff Malloy, Beth Hotchkiss and Kyle O' Connell, came out the next Saturday, Jan 30.   Using the video to determine the probable location of the rope,  they were able to do a search and retrieved it from a pasture. Interestingly, the rope broke near the tow plane end. We realized this when the tow plane returned to land with only about 10 ft. of rope attached. The ropes tend to wear more near the glider end, but if the ends get swapped, the more worn section can also end up on the tow plane end. With the large amount of rope hanging off the glider, the drag caused it to "back release" quickly after the rope break without the glider pilot pulling the release, which is the designed in behavior that occurred here.

Video of the "exciting" rope break incident. It appears that the rope just broke while the glider was in a normal tow position rather than from being jerked. 

                                                      Jennifer runs the wing on the 2-33.

                                        Tow plane readying for another take off on runway 30.

                                           Jennifer piloting the 2-33 with Harold. 

 Bart's RASP had predicted some rain later in the afternoon, which arrived about on schedule,  but was a bit to the NE of us. It produced a nice rainbow. Our operation had been cut a bit short as the skid on the 2-33 had worn through, so we decided it was time to shut down the operation and replace it for next week. Actually,  through fast work on the part of Jim Rickey and Morgan Hall, a replacement skid was in place by late on Saturday and the glider was ready to fly on Sunday Jan. 24.

Jim and Morgan winding down talking about the day's activities as the rain approaches behind what looks like a small "roll cloud". There was some vertical development to the clouds late in the afternoon to the extent of "towering cumulus", but no severe weather developed,  such as CB's, with  hail, microbursts etc. But we were wary, as the NWS had a warning out about possible thunderstorms that afternoon. The area just North of Coalinga over the San Benitos will often generate a thunderstorm if they do happen to occur in this area.