WEATHER
Visibility:       Very good under the cloud deck
Wind:             Stiff breeze / light north wind on the ground, more up a bit.
Altitudes:       Mostly whatever you released at.
Time Aloft:    Short.
Max Lift:        +1 knot, hard to find, short lived.
Temperature:  Cold for Central California.
Comment:      Not a soaring day, but good for training.
Tow pilot:      Kyle Jason

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January 11, 2020

Spring Training is just getting started.

Yes, this is out of order--the blog for January 18 ought to be above this one.

Note that in the pictures below the runways are refereed to as 30, 12, and 8.  Richard has accurately measured, and it has been determined that with the current 13° E variation, those are the correct descriptors.  No more "0-7," "1-3," or "3-1."

The cloud deck moved up and down a bit today.  This is about the lowest it got.

Chuck Jarabek, with a Commercial Airplane rating, has soloed in gliders before at other locations, and is now coming to Avenal to persue his rating! 

Charles ("Chuck") , from Santa Maria, gets ready for his first flight from Avenal.

Charles's daughters Charlotte and Lily move out of the way before dad takes off.

Our faithful towplane, today piloted by Kyle Jason, pulls a 2-33 up for the umpteenth thousands time.

Left wing low, (forward slip to counter the north wind), right rudder to keep it aligned with runway 08, 13F is on short final with Black Mountain obscured by clouds in the background.

Still keeping the left wing a little low, still keeping right rudder to counteract weather-vaning, and up elevator to keep skid off the ground.

Richard takes a tow in his 1-35.

Richard has released and Kyle is on his way to the next tow.

Because of the long distance for this shot, it may not look like Richard cleared the wires with little room to spare, but he had  plenty of clearance on his way to landing on Runway 12

Lily was the first daughter going up for a ride.

Away she goes!

Lux, Charlotte, Richard Walker and Chuck, the "retrieve / welcoming committee,"
go out to see how she enjoyed her first glider ride.

All was well, and she convinced Charlotte to take a ride, too!

Lux running the wing as Charlotte is on her way, too.

Richard helps Aleks get his glider lined up for takeoff on "3-0."

While all the fun is happening outside, Joe is faithfully getting the riding mower ready for the upcoming season.

Alex instructs Eric Wang during the takeoff roll.

Eric is practicing a full slip on his way to landing on "3-0."

Eric is straightened out and ready to land.

Spring Training Season Underway!

WEATHER
Visibility:       5-10 miles in the Avenal area, fantastic 100+ miles above the inversion layer.
Wind:             Light north wind
Altitudes:       Whatever you released at.
Time Aloft:    How high did you release?
Max Lift:       From the Towplane.
Temperature:  Low 50s.
Comment:      Terrible soaring day, good training day.
Tow pilot:      Julie and Morgan

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January 18, 2020

At about 10 minutes before 1:00, a group of F-18s returning from deployment overflew the field on their way to Lemoore N.A.S.

Aleks Radko has just landed.  Alex Caldwell is instructing Mark on takeoff.

Big sky - not very ominous - and little glider.

Kevin debriefs Braden after landing

Kevin instructs Eric as this flight is coming to its successful conclusion

Tops of the hills and the clouds silhouette Eric and Kevin in 22S just about to touchdown.

Wing runner is falling behind the accelerating 2-33, as student Mark supervised by Alex on the takeoff.

Eric & Kevin looking for traffic before launch.

Crunch the cameraman!

Martin and Karl chat while Julie is all smiles waiting for the towplane.

Eric is performing a good, full rudder slip!

Straighten it out to get ready for landing

Crosses the approach end at a good height for a short-field landing.

Spencer coaches student Conor how to work the trim on 22S prior to takeoff.

Conor is telling Kevin what he will do if the F18s attack

Wing runner Spencer, Karl watching, as Conor and Kevin begin the takeoff roll.

Unfortunately, I did not get the camera our earlier in the day to catch those flights.

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The CCSA Annual Members Meeting will be held at Avenal on February 15, 2020.  Please make plans to attend!

Last Day of DST for 2019

WEATHER
Visibility:  Far
Wind: Light
Altitudes:  Modest
Time Aloft:  A bit
Max Lift: Soft
Temperature: Perfect mid 70s
Comment:
Tow pilot:  Iron Man Karl Kunz

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We wrapped up Daylight Saving Time in fine fashion today at Avenal.  While gliderports elsewhere are closing for the season, we are looking forward to some good flying through winter at Avenal and New Coalinga.  We did about 20 tows today and had 5 ships in the air.

For several weeks, a number of members have worked long and hard to scrape our runways clear of tumbleweeds and goathead thorn bushes.  This shot looks across the parallel runways, which are as clear and smooth as they've ever been.

 The shot above looks SE from the clubhouse down to the arrival end of Runway 31. 

The shot above looks NW toward the departure end of Runway 31.

We've used several tractors in this process, and Morgan's mother was kind enough to let us use her tractor for the final phase of the runway clean-up project.  Thanks to good work by Richard, its running again and will be put to back into action in the coming days.

We are fortunate to have weather conditions that allow us to fly year-round.  Be sure to come out and maintain your currency and proficiency over the winter.  You'll be ready and sharp when the spring season arrives.

7-27-2019 Zach Yamauchi Passes Commercial Checkride

WEATHER
Visibility:       10 Miles+
Wind:             Light northwest
Altitudes:       7000 (Richard)
Time Aloft:    Richard Walker; 2 Hours
Max Lift:        6 Kts.
Temperature:  105°F
Comment:       Hot, but productive.
Tow pilot:       Alex Caldwell

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Dan Gudgel, Alex Caldwell, and Zach Yamauchi gathered early to test Zach's Commercial Glider skills.

Zach taking off from Runway 13 after a very low altitude PTT from Runway 31.

Try it again from Runway 31

On final approach for the final time.

About to nail the stop point, this ride is just about over.

Congratulations are in order.

Cries have already started coming in for Zach to get his CFI-G--probably won't be too long!

Way to go, Zach!


Later, new member Kris Caldwell got checked out to solo in the 1-26.  With an ATP rating and F-35 time, he won't be a glider student very long.  

About an hour later, Dan checked Kris out in the towplane--a hot day with a glider in tow has GOT to be a completely different experience than F-18s and F-35s!

Kevin had a few lessons with student Will Bergman, Aleks Radco took his ship up, Jim flew the 1-26 after Kris (with Kris at the forward end of the rope), and Zach took the 1-26 for a flight, too.

Richard Walker had a good flight in his 1-35.  He ventured out further than the 2-33 and 1-26 fliers did, and found convergence.  He by far had the longest flight of the day, (I'm guessing) 1.5 to 2 hours.

Hot, but productive.