Saturday was a great day for the gliders

[Matthew]

With the nice weather we've had lately, everybody is getting busy at home with chores. A couple of us guys in the glider club blew off those chores on Saturday and went to the airport.

I got a couple of pictures:

One of the guys just got a Pegasus, and this was only his third flight in it. It's a really pretty aircraft. The 1-26 got a few flights, too.

And there's a shot of a Funk that was back-taxiing while we were staging for a takeoff.

 

[ClimbnSink]

Pilot got to 26K over Mt. Washington on Sat.(airspace waiver) Lots of other Lennie and diamond climbs this weekend. Unfortunately I wasn't there.

 

[tonycondon]

Very nice Matt! Is that Ron Wright in the Funk?

I had a good glider flight on Saturday. Rafael made two attempt to soar in his Salto and was going to go for Silver Distance but couldn't connect with any lift and fell out both times. He threw in the towel and told me to see what I could do so I took a tow. This is the 3rd or 4th time I've flown the Salto and I really like it. I did manage to find some workable lift although it was weak and difficult. My best climb of the day averaged 190ish feet per minute. Highest I got was 2800 AGL. I did manage to get about 50 km of distance on the OLC flying around the NE side of Wichita.

I called Rafael on the radio after being up for a while and suggested he bring the trailer over to Stearman Field and I would land there. There is a good restaurant on the field there and we both were fairly hungry. So he helped put gliders and the towplane away while I worked a thermal. Then when he was about ready to head out for the 4 mile drive I dove off my excess altitude with a screaming glide towards Stearman at 90 knots. It was fun!

 

[Matthew]

Tony,

I got your PM about your Salto flight. Making a pancake run in a glider is pretty cool.

I don't know who owns the Funk, I'm sure you're right about it, though.

Sebastien took a 2000' tow in his Pegasus, and gained another 4500'. One of the other guys got a 2000' tow in the 1-26 and gained another 3000' or so. The last guy to fly the 1-26 took off as the sun was starting to get pretty low and only was able to stay up about 15-20 minutes.

Here are a couple of other aircraft that were hanging around on Sat.

 

[vontresc]

A Landout at an airport??? Tony you sick????

 

[flyer]

Looks like fun. I noticed in one of your pics the flag looks like its standing straight out. Was it windy?

 

[Matthew]

Looks like fun. I noticed in one of your pics the flag looks like its standing straight out. Was it windy?

Winds were 12G18, but right down the rwy. Temp was 29, dewpoint 7. A very dry day. The grass rwy was so dusty from not having rain for the last 2 weeks that the first guy to take off really had visibility problems from all the dust blown up by the towplane. After that, the towplane/glider lined up closer to the edge of the rwy where the grass was a little less beat up.

We have a club meeting Saturday AM, then will probably head out for some flying afterward. Swing on by if you get a chance. Normally, we start up around 1 or 2 pm, but we might be there around noon this time.

 

[Lance F]

Pilot got to 26K over Mt. Washington on Sat.(airspace waiver) Lots of other Lennie and diamond climbs this weekend. Unfortunately I wasn't there.

Unfortunately I wan't there either. Someday I gotta get that last diamond

 

[flyer]

Winds were 12G18, but right down the rwy. Temp was 29, dewpoint 7. A very dry day. The grass rwy was so dusty from not having rain for the last 2 weeks that the first guy to take off really had visibility problems from all the dust blown up by the towplane. After that, the towplane/glider lined up closer to the edge of the rwy where the grass was a little less beat up.

We have a club meeting Saturday AM, then will probably head out for some flying afterward. Swing on by if you get a chance. Normally, we start up around 1 or 2 pm, but we might be there around noon this time.

Which airport will you be flying out of? Wx is looking good for this weekend.

 

[Matthew]

Which airport will you be flying out of? Wx is looking good for this weekend.

K34 - Gardner Municipal

Fly over or drive.

We haven't polled the members yet to see how many will be there on Sat.

I'll PM you when I find out what's going on.

 

[Matthew]

The club got in another 6 or so flights today. Winds were reported at something like 12G20, but right down the rwy.

The Blanik and the 1-26 got in some quality time.

I tossed in another photo I took as I was leaving this afternoon. That's a nice looking airplane.

 

[flyer]

The club got in another 6 or so flights today. Winds were reported at something like 12G20, but right down the rwy.

The Blanik and the 1-26 got in some quality time.

I tossed in another photo I took as I was leaving this afternoon. That's a nice looking airplane.

Looks nice. Too bad it was windy. Hopefuly one of these weekends the winds will let up so I can fly over!

 

[Matthew]

Another windy day. At this time of the year, you have to take advantage of what you can get. We had 2 Libelles and the club 1-26 in the air at the same time today.

 

[BillTIZ]

Saturday's are always great for gliders..
We were busy at the club today.. lows 70s for a high... gust front rolled through mid afternoon with the upper level trough moving through.. and then a weak wave kicked off.

And we have a new rated pilot... one of my students met the DPE and traded his yellow student certificate for a nice white piece of paper that says PILOT.