PHOTO: Larry Huffman Coming off the dolly aerotowing in Ohio this past summer.
Newsletter of the Daedalus Hang Gliding Club, USHGA Chapter #69
President Eric Shiever 482-4232
Editor Pete Lehmann 661-3474
Newsletter Production and Rack Doctor Jon McElravy 466-3807
In-Active Instructor Jeff Hostler 767-4882 (NEW) 242-2318 (parents) or 958-6205 (beeper)
The end of the year is upon us, and while it has not been the spectacular year that last year was, it ain't been too shabby. Daedalus pilots took first and third in the Regionals, (provisionally) first, second and third in the Yearlong XC contest, we had the only hundred miler in the Region and swept the Pulpit Fly-In's mini-meet. Larry Huffman and I combined for over sixteen hundred miles within the Region. Four different pilots went over sixty miles, Jim Meadows set and re-set personal duration and distance records while getting a total of 250 miles, Luke Thompson got his first XC, Charley Martin got his first of several soaring flights, Marc Maskowitz flew 11 miles on his dope chute and the Jeff Hostler-John Chester team got onto TV.
As we neglected to talk about the Christmas party at the annual meeting it has been left to Pat Brooks' initiative to make the necessary arrangements for the club's annual get together. The party will take place in the same hall we use for the parachute pack and club meeting. That building is the Saxonburg Fire Hall on Pittsburgh Road in the center of the small town of Saxonburg. If you've never been there before, call Pat Brooks (724-352-3730) for more exact directions. The party will begin at 7:30 and we have the hall until 12:00. You are asked to please bring a covered dish of some sort, and there will be a bar selling beer and mixed drinks.
After a summertime trekking adventure in Nepal, LUKE THOMPSON has returned to more pedestrian locations to recommence his flying career. He has taken his HANG THREE test, and merely has to complete the flying tasks to obtain his rating. He is flying very well, and will have no difficulty fulfilling those requirements.
RIC NIEHAUS and KAREN WILSON attained the rating of MATRIMONIALLY BOUND presumably having passed the necessary blood test for the rating. The only regrettable feature of their marriage is that they have moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, a town not worthy of their presence. We wish them well, and hope to see them often when they return to Pittsburgh on Ric's USAirways bus.
ERIC SHIEVER has completed all of his HANG 4 requirements except for the spot landings. He will be a deserving addition to the ranks of advanced pilots.
JOHN FENNER has completed the course work for his MBA. He is now in a position to leave behind his shameful past as a scum sucking attorney and move on to the nobler calling of capitalist exploiter. More importantly, he is now free to fly again.
Larry Huffman has managed an astounding feat this year by flying eight hundred miles within the Region. It is an extraordinary accomplishment that demonstrates his exceptional commitment to flying hang gliders. Remember, Larry, unlike this editor, is unavailable to fly during the week. That's 800 miles of largely weekend flying. To put it into perspective, that total is the equivalent of twenty flights of forty miles. What makes the total even more noteworthy is that it was done in the absence of any hugely long flights such as last year's, and in a year where the classic spring weather never materialized. He points out that his huge total benefited greatly from his summer towing trips to Ohio where for several weekends in a row he managed to go XC just about every day. His experience underlines the value for all pilots of adding towing skills to their arsenal of airtime tools.
The Rogallo Foundation is putting together a celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the Rogallo Wing to be held December 4, 1998 at the Penguin Isle Restaurant in Nags Head, N.C.
The Celebration begins at 7:00 p.m. and will include film clips, music, a gallery of kites and gliders, a tribute to Francis and Gertrude Rogallo and a toast to the 10th Anniversary of the Fly America Team, dinner and dancing. All proceeds will go to the Rogallo Foundation to support the foundation's efforts to build the Rogallo Museum and fund the Foundation to preserve and exhibit artifacts and for its efforts to educate the public in aerodonetics. The cost for the event is $50.00. Tickets can be paid for over the phone by credit card at Kitty Hawk Kites (1-800-334-4777). If you are unable to make it, donations will be happily accepted, and once again you can call in your donation to Kitty Hawk Kites and we can charge your card over the phone.
We are also calling for "homemade" video clips from flying folks around the world which we will splice together to make one "card" that we can present to the Rogallos. We are asking your help in putting the word out to gather up a few friends, identify yourselves and your location, offer "congratulations" to Francis and Gertrude, and keep it to 60 seconds or less. The more visual or creative you can be the more enjoyable the "video card" will become. Fun is the operative word here. Please get the videos posted by no later than November 25 and send to: Lisa Holian, 217 Sir Chandler Drive, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948. Lisa will be putting the video together. You can also call her at (252) 441-0911 or email her at lisaholian@aol.com.
Editor's Note: Since Vic Powell, one of the prinicipal instigators of the expensive and divisive waiver lawsuit, has been forced off the Board of the Rogallo Foundation I am now willing to support the organization and will make a personal donation.
As we all know, Avonmore is a particularly sensitive site, most particularly with respect to Mack Bruner the owner of the lz. Over the last year a number of us have had occasion to notice that there have been times when we sensed that we had inadvertently made some sort of mistake on Mack's property. Some of us have since had conversations with members of the Bruner family and from those conversations it has become clear that the friction point has been on the days where they have been spray painting cars or other objects. They do their spray work in the barn to the right as we drive into their farm yard. That means that by driving past them at a distance of 15 feet we are generating dust which can ruin the work they are doing. Now that we know what the problem has been, it is imperative that if they are spraying, we not drive into the yard. Park your vehicle outside of the farm yard, and simply carry your glider out to your vehicles when you are done breaking down. The Bruners, while perhaps a bit eccentric, have been generous hosts for over fifteen years now so please be as considerate of their feelings as you would be of your own family's.
Due to singularly poor summer of hill flying, for quite a while the only real XC driving was done by Brenda Huffman on her trips to Ohio with Larry and Pete Lehmann. On virtually every single Ohio day Brenda wound up chasing a pilot, with Larry repeatedly setting and re-setting the site distance record. One of the advantages of chasing in Ohio is that the dense net of straight roads and the pilots' slow progress due to flying on light wind days meant that Brenda was often present when the pilots landed. With the two pilots breaking down quickly, they were often loaded up and on their way home in as little as half an hour after landing. Now that's retrieval excellence. After a lull of sorts on the home front, Brenda finally wound up retrieving Larry behind Templeton, followed by a trip out to Fisher Road for the Pulpit Fly-In. There she picked up the winning team after their respective flights to the east from Fisher.
The specific retrieves that Brenda performed are really the least of it. What is more profoundly impressive is the total XC miles flown by pilots she chased. Between Larry, Pat, Jim, Pete and others she retrieved pilots who had flown the astonishing total of 1,290 miles. Larry in particular, and all of us in general, are astonishingly lucky that we have a driver that is cheerfully willing to come out as often as Brenda does. Thank you Brenda, and thanks equally to your willing road partner Lynn Meadows.
Among Lynn's adventures she got to chase Jim on his trip to Indiana from Avonmore. Amazingly Jim's radio and map were in order this time, and Lynn got to him very quickly. After that Lynn chased him a number of times from Templeton including another minor (eight mile) detour due to a navigational error by mister Meadows. On one notable retrieve from High Point Lynn picked up Pete Lehmann and then drove further eight miles to pick up Jim who'd landed after Pete had. She had them both in the bag and tied down on the truck and drinking beer only fifty-five minutes after the first pilot had landed. That's world class retrieval.
Chimney too made a couple of rare appearances, despite a somewhat 'fatigued' condition on one of those occasions. Conspicuous by his absence was John "Mojo" Chester who was distracted by his new go kart racing hobby.
Another Falcon 195 is destined to be seen at the club's sites. There are also mutterings, and mumblings about a small Fusion, and possibly a little XC and... Stay tuned.
For a one year subscription (four issues) send a $6.00 check made out to Daedalus HGC to Dewayne Renwick, 4 Griffith Dr; Home, PA 15747
This year's Pulpit Fly-In was held on September 19-20 and while the festivities were held at the Pulpit itself the flying was conducted at Fisher Road. Both days had unpromising forecasts yet both produced entirely respectable flying. The first day had light winds and was largely overcast until a period of sunshine arrived in mid-afternoon to provide a window of fun thermally flying. That enabled a number of pilots to complete the entire ten-mile task to the end of the ridge and back. Our club's team consisted of Pat Brooks, Larry Huffman and Pete Lehmann, to which was added Marc Fink of the Capitol Club. All four of our pilots completed the task to put the team into a solid lead as only three other pilots managed to complete the task.
The second day began with a sunny sky which then became cumie-filled by afternoon. Unfortunately the winds were both light and considerably crossed from the southwest. In the end Pete launched at a climbing bird and beamed out at 500fpm to go on course and start the day's festivities. Later Larry and Pat also got out to score well for the team. Pete tried to fly to the Pulpit launch. However he came up a bit short after having hit the Pulpit ridge a couple of miles north of launch but having been unable to soar it to launch. Larry flew to Waterfall beyond Sideling Hill where he landed at the home of Brenda's cousin to be sure of getting a beer while waiting to be picked up. Pat landed a bit further out in the valley to secure the team's overall victory. In the end, the team's pilots finished 1-2-3, and won the overall trophy. It was a really enjoyable weekend despite a decidedly crummy forecast.
Any pilot flying cross country, or with aspirations to do so, will benefit from the sailplane technology that makes speeds-to-fly easy. GPS interface is available, although the 3-D BAROGRAPH is unlikely to be available before Sam Arai graduates from high school. For more information on this easy to use, state of the art, performance enhancing instrument and/or personalized help with speeds-to-fly theory call Larry Huffman at 352-3726. He also has a demo instrument available for test flights. FLY IT YOU'LL LIKE IT. (Of course you could still buy a cool looking, uncompensated and slow reacting Flytec)
Over the last few years there has been no active hang gliding instructor around Pittsburgh. As a result we have had to turn away prospective pilots or tell them to drive to Ellenville, Washington, Chattanooga, etc. for instruction. Needless to say, few people have been motivated enough to go through that torture. At the last BoD meeting Colorado I spent some time talking to my roommate Michael Robertson about his teaching operation just outside Toronto, Canada. Michael is the father of the Robertson Reliability Charts, and runs one of the longest continuously operating hang gliding schools in N. America, and it is less than 5 hours from Pittsburgh. What distinguishes the school is that it operates year round except during the fall and spring mud seasons. Most training (solo or tandem) is done using a static winch. As with all towing, the winch removes the need to lug gliders up and down a hill, and to some extent it reduces the reliance upon a specific wind direction to make teaching possible. More than that the winch towing is mainly foot launched which means that a pilot trained at Michael's school is going to encounter less difficulty making the transition to foot launching at our hill sites. This is all by way of saying that if one hears of an individual interested in learning to fly, they would be well advised to consider Michael's school near Toronto. It is reasonably close, teaches year round, benefits from the weak Canadian dollar, and employs a foot- launched technique. The phone number of High Perspective is 1-800-359-9979.
This year's landing contest suffered from reduced participation when compared to recent years. Only six pilots paid the big five buck entry fee, and of those only three actually completed the twenty-five landings necessary to be scored. The contest begins on the first of April and each contestant must log and score their next twenty-five consecutive landings. The standard of a good landing is exact: nothing but the wing tip or keel may touch the ground. Anything else is a bad landing.
Pete Lehmann won going away with only one bad landing in twenty-five attempts. He then followed that up with eight more good ones before the next bad one. However, it is most fortunate that he completed the contest's twenty-five landings before going out west because his miserable landings out there in hot, light and switchy conditions at 6,000msl would have taken him far out of the running. He plans on investing his immense $30 winnings in the purchase of a new Falcon, figuring that with the Falcon he'll be a lock in next year's contest.
If anyone thinks they will fly twenty-five times in 1999 they ought to give some thought to entering the landing contest at the annual March 'Chute Pack. The contest is a useful way of forcing pilots to concentrate on their landing technique, and has a way of encouraging pilots to land better than they normally might. Furthermore, it is great entertainment watching contestants land. If they screw up a landing their misfortune is loudly acknowledged with a resounding cry of "whack" from the bloodthirsty onlookers. Come on out and amuse your friends.
RESULTS
Pete Lehmann 24 good/1 bad = 96%
Pat Brooks 18 good/7 bad = 72%
Larry Huffman 17 good/8 bad = 68%
Eric Shiever DNFE*
Dewayne Renwick "
Ric Niehaus "
* Did Not Fly Enough
It has recently come to my attention that there is at least one major insurance company that will sell life insurance to hang glider pilots without imposing a surcharge to cover hang gliding accidents. That company is the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, and it has several offices in the Pittsburgh area. They have a written policy covering hang glider pilots that states that there will be no surcharge for pilots who have had certified instruction, are over 25 and have a Hang 4 rating.
Several members of the club are acquainted with Jim Zeiset and, Amy Zeiset nee Hatcher. For that reason I will give an account of my attendance at their elaborate wedding which took place on September 26 in Salida, CO.
For those of you who don't know him, Jim Zeiset is something of a late twentieth century pirate and one of hang gliding's true characters. He was born into an eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite family, and can best be described as an apple which has fallen far from the tree. Jim trained as an aeronautical engineer, but he is an entrepreneur at heart. Over a period of 25 years he has built up a business manufacturing cardboard containers used to transplant seedlings on large plantations. This business is now flourishing so well that I accuse him of merely printing money. What really distinguishes Jim is not his considerable engineering and business sense, but his passionate devotion to flying hang gliders, something he's done since 1976. Since that distant beginning he has flown hang gliders in most of the world, including India, Europe, South America, Australia and Korea. In this country Jim has flown in competition since the mid-eighties, and if he's never quite made the World Team he is a helluva good pilot. His engineering background has made him extremely interested in the technical aspects of hang gliding and he has always been on the forefront of the sport's latest innovations, be they advanced harnesses, radios, varios, oxygen systems, retrieval procedures, gps, variable geometry, and, now, rigid wings. He always has the latest doodads, which he is then compelled to customize using his extraordinary mix of technical skills. He once even attached a Loran receiver to his glider.
No one anywhere has devoted as much attention to a greatly necessary, but often overlooked, aspect of modern flying: retrieval. In the twelve years that I have been hanging around with him Jim has always had a driver on call for himself and his flying buddies. They may have been his shop employees, girlfriends, sons, or pilots, but there was always a ride available. Indeed, that's how I first got together with him. I was flying Dinosaur on my own in 1986 when JZ adopted me into the van driven by his then girlfriend. It was quite an introduction. We drove around the countryside in a his huge four wheel drive van drinking rum straight from a half gallon jug and firing a pistol over the heads of cows to get them to move off the road. Later experiences have included bailing him out of Brazilian jail, while he got me out of a Telluride hospital and into his care only to then be repeatedly awakened by his nocturnal adventures with his then newest girlfriend (and now wife). To conclude the '89 Nationals in Dunlap, CA there was the bar fight where JZ narrowly escaped getting knifed by a redneck local, and the slow-rolled Astro van, and the time we went to pawn shops in Fort Collins, CO looking for his stolen VCR which he had reason to believe might be there. I wasn't around for this one, but he was the first pilot to have ever broken a glider positive while spiralling down to get out of a cunimb in Colorado. The glider broke when he let the bar out at about 90mph whereupon Jim hucked his 'chute. The trouble was that he was descending under canopy toward the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. Had he not landed up on the rim of the plateau above the icy reservoir he would have been one big dead green icecube. Of course Jim's well adjusted vox allowed a cool radio narration of his predicament for the other pilots flying Willow that day. Amongst his other adventures Jim's used his Exxctacy to dissect a Klassic, a feat that brought him his second canopy ride. Christ, I could keep telling stories all day long. Jim's a truly colorful character perhaps only matched by his long time road partner ZoarDog, a large Michigan pilot who once spent some time as a guest of the Federal government during which he became an accomplished stained glass artist. Ah, but I digress.
In any event, JZ's piratical past included three marriages, two sons, one of whom, now dead, was a wild chip off his father's block and a mile long trail of loose women. Jim swore he'd never again marry, and those of us who knew him felt that to be the wisest course. As a husband and family man JZ was no day at the beach. However, things have a way of changing, and to the surprise of all his friends Jim decided at the age of 55 to marry for the fourth time. His new wife is Amy Hatcher who has been his companion for nine years since that memorable night in Telluride. Amy has been around the world with Jim and has served the in the unenviable role of retrieve driver for the Green Team. She has been truly amazing, taking care of the team's needs down to making the team's excellent green (of course) flight suits and providing rum and cokes when she finds them in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. She has been an angel, albeit an angel with horns. Amy's a tough woman who brooks no foolishness, but she has been as kind a friend as I have ever run into in this sport. Jim is a rough man, and in Amy he's found a companion who, while very different in the details, is a similarly tough, independent character. They make an interestingly well matched couple. I wish them well.
Their wedding was held in their Salida, CO hometown at 6,500msl in the heart of the Rockies. That increasingly pretty town lies in a valley shadowed by the 14,000ft Collegiate Range. Conditions were magnificent. Upon our arrival the trees had only turned color at the 10,000ft level, but by the end of the week the golden aspens were seen almost down to the valley floor. The sky was blue with some high cumulus clouds, and the temperature perfect. The affair brought together a couple of hundred hang glider pilots to town. Some were old pilots who now barely fly. Some were from nearby Colorado towns, others from across the country, and, one, Scotsman Robin Hamilton, arrived from New Orleans wearing a beautiful full- dress Scottish kilt. Green Team members past and present arrived, some looking startlingly elegant, and one beginning to betray evidence of his slide into the sedentary middle age of driving an executive jet for a living. One person was there to hustle his newest product to the guests, believing, quite rightly, that much of hang gliding's aristocracy was present and that this represented a perfect marketing opportunity. All in all it was an interesting group, one reflecting the richly flavored bridal couple.
The actual wedding took place in the town's one movie house, after which the bridal party was transported to the reception in a matching pair of vintage white Rolls-Royces. The reception was of a high standard. The food and decorations first rate, and the swing band as good as I have ever heard at a wedding. After the reception Jim and Amy left on an extravagant honeymoon. It began with a flight to New York from where they took the Concorde to London. From London they then journeyed through Europe to Venice in the vintage railcars of the Orient Express, followed by a Mediterranean cruise which ended in Barcelona.
I had driven out to the wedding with my buddy Jeff Thomas who had met Jim and Amy when he came to Australia last winter to serve as driver for the US World Team. By driving out together we had split costs, and I had been able to bring along my diver. That meant that after the wedding I had 1. a glider, and 2. a driver. How cool. Jeff then drove for me on the two days after the wedding when I flew from Villa Grove, a site twenty miles south of Salida on the Sangre de Cristo range. The launch was low on the shoulder of those 12-13,000msl mountains, but I easily got up on both days. The winds were somewhat strong and cross, so on both days I flew my sissy ass off the mountains and out into the valley in front. On the second day the tactic worked really well and I eventually got over 16,000msl and hooked up with Jim Lee with whom I flew back to Salida across Ponchia Pass. Both days had presented beautiful flying over big mountains whose gold fall colors had mixed with the vibrant green of the lower aspens, the deep blue of the high altitude sky and light grey mountain rock. It was a spectacular sight and a fitting end to an interesting trip.
If anyone would like to advertise any equipment for sale, let me know before the end of each quarter. Please let me know if you've sold anything.
FLIGHT DESIGNS TRIKE in excellent condition with two Kawasaki 440 motors including one newly rebuilt. Also for sale is a LARGE PARACHUTE for a hang glider pilot. Call Rich Klinger for details 724-352-2884
PACAIR PULSE 10 METER - low hours, less than 2 years old, pod harness, pda parachute and helmet. Ball M19 vario, car rack, books, etc. He would like to sell it all as a package for $2500. Andrew Holupka e-mail
WILLS WING EURO-SPORT 167 Blue and white. Two extra downtubes, manual, batten pattern, and speed bar. $1,000 OBO Call Doug Cassley (724) 352-4497
USED MOYES DIVER BAZAAR
137 XTRALITE to a good home. It's in fine shape and will make you look better than you really are. $1,500. He is also selling his
XS 142 Very good condition. $800. Call Larry Huffman (724) 352-3726
WILLS WING SUPER SPORT 163 New in '94; 70 hours; sweet handling and only tumbled once. Flouro Red, Yellow and White. Folding speed bar. To contact him for details call Ric Niehaus' pager at 1-800-759-7243 code4473586#
PACAIR K4 PARTS GLIDER contact John Fenner for availability. 741-6792
CG 1000 HARNESS and PARACHUTE with kevlar bridle $350 together. Call Tom Linder (724) 863-3529
PACAIR FORMULA 144 Good condition, 70+hours. $1000 OBO Also a new spaghetti harness (for 5'6"-5'11") and 20gore parachute for $250. Contact Felipe Amunategui in Cleveland at; Dr.Amunategui@worldnet.att.net
PACAIR FORMULA 144: red w/white LE and blue top. 2 speed bars, wheels and thermal mitts.
FLYTEC 3005SI VARIO with airspeed indicator and mount. Call Bill Kuhar: (216) 252-4313
COMPLETE FLYING PACKAGE: Super Lancer 180 (one owner), Odyssey harness, parachute, Litek vario, training harness, 2-channel Courier business band (USHGA) radio. Kevin Gallagher (724) 282-6894
FORMULA 154 Less than 100 hours, purple LE, pink and blue. Good shape+safe edge downtubes. $900 OBO Call Christian Titone at (610) 286-9427
JUNE 21 FISHER ROAD Larry Huffman, Paul Donahue, Deborah Uttenreither, and Charlie Martin got sled rides.
JUNE 27 TEMPLETON Pat Brooks, Charlie Martin , Ric Niehaus, and Larry Huffman; sled rides 4th of July at Hyner and Kennedy: Dewayne Renwick made a sled while Pat got 3:15 and 4800 over at Kennedy
JULY 5 TEMPLETON The day after Independence Day there are no fireworks as Larry Huffman gets ten minutes in two flights landing on top, and the visiting Larry Ball gets ten min. and landed on top too.
JULY 10 TEMPLETON Paul Donahue (1:40) and Jeff Seruset (1:30) flew in the evening ridge lift.
JULY 11 TEMPLETON SPAWNING OF A MUD(dy) PUPPY With cycle soaring early Jeff Seruset got to 2800agl and dove over the back for 5.1 miles. It finally turned soarable a little after 6 PM and provided nice evening air for Paul (2 flts 1:30), Pat (2 flts 1:00), Dewayne (8 min.), Jim Meadows (3 flts. 2:30), Larry (3 flts 1:30). Jeff Hostler even made an appearance and flew for 1:30 while Charlie Martin made a swamp landing to earn the nickname "Mud Puppy".
JULY 12 TEMPLETON Eric Shiever and Paul Donahue slide before Paul gets an extended sled ride on a second flight.
JULY 12 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OH Larry Huffman went out to aero-tow with club members Ken Swarm, Ralph Eckart, and Felipe Amunategui. Their aero-towing operation is located at a small grass strip south of Cleveland and employs a trike which provides a very solid climb rate when towing a glider. Kenny flew for :30 while Ralph, who'd launched first, was in the air. In the meantime Larry finally got up on his third tow and he and Kenny headed south together. As there was neither wind nor cumies, the going was very slow and they landed together after 25 miles. Ralph had been in the air for over four hours.
The tow operation is excellent and the guys are doing a great job as tug pilots. For the time being they only want tow experienced pilots with an Aero-Tow sign-off, so if you want to fly with them, you will need to acquire that sign-off.
JULY 17 TEMPLETON Jeff Seruset gets 30 min. flying in the evening.
JULY 18 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OH Pat Brooks, Jeff Seruset and Larry Huffman return to Ohio. Ralph Eckart and Jeff Seruset get the longest duration flights of two hours, while Pat Brooks and Kenny Swarm get an hour apiece and Larry goes eight miles.
JULY 19 AVONMORE Jim Meadows and Larry Huffman dribbled out with Jim getting 3 mi.
(1450 agl) and Larry 7 mi. (2800 agl). Paul, Deborah and Charlie showed up for
evening flights (?).
JULY 24 TEMPLETON A few short cycle soaring flights with top landings by
Eric (:14), Pat (:17), and Jim (:10).
JULY 25 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OH Ralph Eckart (1:30), Jeff Seruset (:30), and Larry Huffman (1:10) get soaring flights before the clouds move in and then Pat (15 min.), Kenny (15 min), and Jeff (another 15 min.) get sled rides from various altitudes.
JULY 26 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OH Being the only tug pilot present Ralph Eckart sacrifices himself and tows Larry Huffman up for a 2 hr.flight that ends at 29 miles, setting a site record, again.
JULY 31 TEMPLETON A beautiful dry, warm summer's day with little wind, and a north cross at that. All the same, a number of pilots showed up to fly late in the day . After Pat Brooks made a first short soaring flight after four o'clock, Pete Lehmann and Ric Niehaus launched, and it soon became wonderfully soarable. Ric flew for over an hour before landing so as to drive to Philadelphia. Pete got up and out in 50-100fpm lift, flew to beyond the Exxon station, and then returned to the hill (2:05, 4m300agl). Pat Brooks flew again before going home to get some well earned sleep (total of :48), Jim Meadows got :42, and late arriving Paul Donahue and Mike Neuman each got about an hour and a half of beautiful evening air. It became a really pretty evening.
AUGUST 1 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OHIO Larry Huffman returns to the Ohio tow site accompanied by Brenda, Jim and Lynn Meadows and Pete Lehmann. Jim begins by attempting his first ever aerotows. They proved a bit tough, and after two broken weaklinks he waits until things mellow out later in the afternoon. He then tows up successfully and then finds some lift for a :42 minute flight. Larry and Ralph Eckart then tow up, followed by Pete Lehmann. They all get up, but Ralph soon has to land while Larry and Pete head southward together on what becomes an almost three hour flight together. In the end, Larry scrapes off Pete (36.7 miles, 6,500msl) for an extra couple of miles to get 39.5 miles landing southwest of East Canton and setting yet another in a succession of site distance records. Daedalus Club pilots Ralph Eckart (:40) and Kenny Swarm (:40) also flew as did Tim Miller who similarly got about forty minutes.
AUGUST 2 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OHIO The Huffman-Lehmann show returns to Ohio, and has an almost identical experience to the previous day's flight. This time however the flights are slightly longer, the conditions a bit better and the route goes to the east rather than to the south. Again they fly together almost the entire distance and again Larry scrapes off Pete at the end to get a bit further. They made a big loop to the northeast to get around Youngstown airspace, and then to pass north of the big Mosquito Creek Reservoir before heading east into Pennsylvania. Larry landed at the Greenville airport for 41 miles (7,900msl), again breaking his own site record, while Pete landed behind him for 38.8 miles.
Fellow club members, and locally resident Ohio pilots Ken Swarm and Ralph Eckart also flew. Ralph was half a thermal behind Larry and Pete and suffered from what he described as "glide envy" as the other two employed their topless gliders' superior glide to dive off ahead of him. In the end Ralph landed on the west side of Mosquito Creek Reservoir for an entirely creditable 22 mile flight (2.5hrs). Ken flew for an hour around the airport while locals Felipe Amunategui (:20), Diana (:30) and Bill (:30) all got soaring time.
AUGUST 8 JACKS MOUNTAIN Warm, humid conditions and light winds didn't bode well, but in the end flying was pretty reasonable. Larry Huffman and Pete Lehmann launched first and had identical flights of 1:50 and gains to 1,500 over launch. Pat Brooks got :33 before being flushed while Jim Meadows first had a sled ride before a second, half hour flight.
AUGUST 9 FISHER ROAD Paul Donahue gets about an hour flying in light lift under a very low overcast before a landing that produced support for the aluminium industry.
AUGUST 15 FARVIEW AIRPORT, OH Larry and Brenda Huffman and Pete Lehmann again go to Ohio and again go XC. Conditions were decidedly weak on a hot, humid day that gave Kenny Swarm and Larry sled rides on their first flights. Larry later got out with Pete (6,000msl) and they again went xc together. They headed northeast over what became swampy and otherwise sodden countryside due to recent rains. Larry got 18 miles, and Pete 22.9 after flights of a little over an hour.
AUGUST 16, FARVIEW AIRPORT The same hot, humid conditions as yesterday except that lift was weaker, and with a lower cloudbase. After Pete had a spooky launch dragging a tip off the trolley, he and Larry (5,000msl) headed off to the northeast for an hour's flight before landing together (10.7 miles) at an Amish family gathering of some twenty very curious people. Jim Meadows continued his aerotow education with a regrettably smooth first tow due to the absence of lift, but he later made another flight getting about :25. After towing the others Kenny Swarm got to fly his hang glider and was duly rewarded for his earlier sacrifice for the public good with :55 including his first trip to cloudbase (6,000msl) this year. Additionally, Felipe got about an hour and Diane half an hour as the towing again proved to be the only way to get airtime during the dog days of summer.
AUGUST 22 FARVIEW AIRPORT, AGAIN The Huffmans and Pete Lehmann again go to Farview to tow on a hot summer's day. This time only Larry does well, getting yet another good flight of 30.1 miles heading to the southeast. Unlike previous flights, this one had a bit of a tailwind to speed him along, and that was most helpful as the highest he got was only 4,700msl. Ralph Eckart flew around the airport for about an hour, while Kenny Swarm flew the tug. Pete had a poor day starting with a weaklink failure at the tug end which left him with the tow rope at 400ft, a second flight after which he landed two miles from the airport, and finally a straight sled ride.
AUGUST 23 AVONMORE What a concept, flying at Avonmore. Ironically this year's soy bean crop has left a usable LZ, but the weather has provided little incentive to use it. A large number of pilots showed up to take advantage of the rare opportunity, and Jim Meadows was the one who best exploited the day's potential. After surviving a big flush cycle that put quickly put three other pilots onto the ground, Jim climbed out and left. He later got to 4,650agl on his way to land east of Indiana Airport for 23.25 miles after a two hour flight that included a 300ft save along the way.
Back at the hill much airtime was accumulated: Larry Huffman led with 1:20, Ric Niehaus 1:17, Eric Shiever got an hour and the best gain at the hill, 2,500agl, Paul Donahue :50 (and some facial redecoration), Pete Lehmann :45, Pat Brooks :25 and Dewayne Renwick :16. Charlie Martin flew "Pete's" Falcon for eight minutes late in the afternoon, and is about due for a decent vario.
AUGUST 30 AVONMORE For the second Sunday in a row Jim Meadows smokes the others. This time it is a matter of airtime (1:02) and altitude (630ft) rather than distance. Nonetheless, very creditable. He and Larry Huffman (:38) flew together in weakly thermally ridge lift that often put the pilots back down at launch height. They were finally flushed together and Jim was at least then humbled a bit as he became a Soy Beany Baby, along with Eric Shiever who also landed in the soy beans after a sled ride. Pete Lehmann got a few minutes of desperate scratching, while Dewayne Renwick and Charlie Martin had sled rides, with Charlie making it closest to the spot.
AUGUST 31 TEMPLETON The weekday XC club reconvened after a two month lapse. John Fenner began the day's festivities with a short soaring flight which ended in a quick trip to the lz. Jim Meadows then launched and ever so slowly climbed out after having committed over the back low. Still not too high, Jim had to hear Eric Shiever report that he had gotten to 8,100msl (6,800agl) under a fine cloud. Eric was still only halfway back to route 66 when he topped out at cloudbase. Pete Lehmann had launched as Eric was beaming out, but struggled a bit before also getting to base and going on course. Eric chased some clouds that had a way of drying up and dying on him with the result that he landed at NuMine for 12?miles. Pete caught up to Jim at that location, and the two of them then went across Keystone Lake before Pete decided to try and fly back to Templeton. Jim followed behind him and he made it to Rose Valley, while Pete got halfway back to Templeton and landed at "Pat's Church" on Rural Valley road. With the turnpoint, Jim's flight totalled about 20 miles, and Pete's about 23 miles. All in all a very good day for late August with the unusually high altitudes and occasional 500fpm climb rates.
John Fenner re-launched after the others had left, and was rewarded for his diligence with a repeat of the first flight. Regrettably, this time Lynn Meadows was no longer on hand to pick him up from below so he had to walk back to launch. Paul Donahue arrived late in the day to enjoy forty five minutes of pretty evening wonder wind flying and an excellent top landing.
SEPTEMBER 4 TEMPLETON Larry Huffman climbs out first getting to 4,800agl before leaving with Jim Meadows close behind. Larry raced off and decked it as a consequence (25.6 miles) while Jim, who'd gotten to 5,100agl landed at Deming's Ridge for 14.2 miles. Meanwhile Mike Neuman uses a more conservative strategy of working every bit of lift and gets 44.2 miles with Chimney (with feminine accompaniment) providing chase.
SEPTEMBER 5 PULPIT Larry Huffman (4,200 over launch) and local Keith Ford leave together and make it to Greencastle for 16.8 miles. Pat Brooks follows later to land at 15.2 miles. Luke Thompson had landed in the main lz and was gracious enough to retrieve them. Luke was then rewarded for his altruism with 1:15 of nice evening air upon his return to the hill.
SEPTEMBER 6 AVONMORE Airpig Jim Meadows gets 2:40 on a day of somewhat strong conditions. Larry Huffman gets 1:10, Eric Shiever 1:00 and the best gain to 1,000ft over, Charlie Martin Pete Lang had sled rides, while Paul Donahue got 5-10 minutes. Luke Thompson brought along two fellow Ohioans, Ben Gleich :10 and Tom Kirkpatrick :20. Luke got twenty minutes.
SEPTEMBER 9 HYNER Dewayne flew for 30 minutes.
SEPTEMBER 10 TEMPLETON Paul scratches for 10 minutes.
SEPTEMBER 11 AVONMORE Larry flies for 3:00 gets 1500 over
SEPTEMBER 12 AVONMORE Jim Meadows sets yet another personal record in a year full of them. Jim flies for 3:02 , while Larry Huffman gets 2:00 (1,200ft), Pat Brooks 1:55, Paul Donahue 1:20, Luke Thompson 1:30 in two flights, and Charlie Martin had two flights with a couple of passes.
Meanwhile, at Templeton Eric Shiever got :40 and 250ft.
SEPTEMBER 13 AVONMORE A nothing day: Pat Brooks and Jim Meadows got five minutes, while Luke Thompson, Larry Huffman and Charlie Martin (2) went sliding to the lz.
SEPTEMBER 19/20 FISHER ROAD: THE PULPIT FLY-IN
See the story above detailing the Daedalus pilots' successful weekend.
SEPTEMBER 26 AVONMORE Cycle soaring with Larry H. getting :23 (850agl), Dewayne Renwick :07, Pat Brooks :05 and Jim Meadows :05.
SEPTEMBER 28 TEMPLETON On a north cross day with a shear of some sort capping the lift Larry Huffman gets eventually gets to 1,800agl in 1:35. Pat Brooks got :56, Jeff Seruset an hour, Paul Donahue about an hour and Eric Shiever :18.
OCTOBER 2 TEMPLETON Larry Huffman and Jim Meadows take advantage of Larry's having been laid off work to go flying on a Friday. Larry was rewarded by one of the longest ever October flights, landing at the base of Allegheny Mountain for 52.6 miles. Jim flew Larry's old Xtralite and had yet another good xc going 30.8 miles.
OCTOBER 10 TEMPLETON A rather crummy looking gray day nonetheless had several pilots at the hill including a visiting husband and wife team from Michigan. Dan and Jo Walker both flew and had short soaring flights on a HP-AT and paraglider respectively. Jim Meadows continued to rack up the airtime with 2:20 and a gain of 1400ft for the longest and highest flight of the day. After a sled ride, Larry Huffman got about half an hour in the increasingly left cross conditions, while Pete Lehmann got :50 while scratching out for a 2.5 mile xc at 1,200ft.
OCTOBER 11 HIGH POINT Upon arriving at the hill the pilots discovered that the winds were considerably crossed from the right, but it was quite soarable once they had launched. Pete Lehmann launched and slowly climbed out to 1,900 over and headed south along the Knobblies before getting stuck low five miles out. Jim Meadows and Larry Huffman (max. alt. 2,700over) then caught up to and passed Pete who landed in front of the ridge while they continued over the back. Jim made it 8.5 miles, and Larry 12?.
OCTOBER 11 TEMPLETON Meanwhile, back at the ranch Eric Shiever got 1:30 and 1,500 over for the day's best flight in conditions weaker than found at High Point. Jeff Seruset got :35 in two flights, Paul Donahue about half an hour after an earlier sled. The visiting Walkers both flew; with Jo getting :35 for one of her best ever paragliding flights, while Dan had an extended sled ride on his hang glider.
OCTOBER 17 FISHER ROAD Launching from a site that was literally infested with thousands of ladybugs, Pat Brooks briefly gets over the top, while Jim Meadows, Larry Huffman and Paul Donahue slide to the lz. Later in the day, however, Paul re-flew for 1:25 for the flight of the day. The highpoint of the day was the sighting of a bobcat ambling across the road to launch.
OCTOBER 18 AVONMORE Despite a very strong forecast a number of pilots went to the hill. Pete Lehmann launched first into winds that were 27mph at 700feet and thermals of up to 600fpm. After twenty minutes he bailed, opting for the big, safe soy been field above the main lz. As it mellowed Jeff Seruset flew for :35 minutes, and Eric Shiever flew for half an hour performing his Hang 4 in- flight tasks until flushed.
OCTOBER 21 TEMPLETON Fall weather with lake-effect clouds returns. Larry Huffman and Pete Lehmann launch together and then spend an hour beating around the ridge beyond the road cut in a nasty left cross. Finally, they climb up together and depart at about 1200agl while working every weak bit of lift they could find. Eventually things turned on a bit and they got to about 3,700agl before heading off towards Dayton. As the sky became more overcast lift became scarcer and they finally landed south of Trade City on 210 for 19.6 miles after a very satisfying flight given the conditions.
OCTOBER 22 TEMPLETON Lake effect again produces largely overcast skies. Pete Lehmann launches and after twenty minutes of astoundingly thermally ridge flying climbs out to 2,500agl and leaves. That was as high as he would get, and after finding nothing but zero-sink en route he lands at Pat's Church for 7.6 miles. Luke Thompson drove in from Ohio for a forty five minute flight, most of which was spent low on the ridge until he got up to a grand and landed at Slagels.
OCTOBER 23 AVONMORE Jim gets to 1350agl, but is then trapped over the back and goes for it, eventually landing near Iselin. John Fenner comes out for an hour flight, while Larry Huffman gets two hours (2,300agl).
OCTOBER 24 AVONMORE Mike Neuman smokes the day with an awesome eight miler to near McIntyre after getting 2,600agl. Meanwhile Pat Brooks (1:45), Jeff Seruset (1:20), Larry Huffman (1:15 after a short early flight), Jim Meadows (1:10), and Paul Meadows (1:05) all get good flights on the ridge. The hallmark of the day was the inversion that capped lift at about 1,000agl except for the narrow window in which Mike got out. However, the happiest pilot was Charlie Martin who first got five minutes, and then made his longest soaring flight to date, one of twenty minutes. Nice job Charlie.
OCTOBER 29 TEMPLETON Eric Shiever was the bad influence that forced Pat Brooks to take a vacation day and Pete Lehmann to blow off things he ought to have done. Result: In the light, blue and right cross conditions Pete got :50, Pat :30 (1600agl) and Eric :20 after which they all top landed. Eric then had a valiant short soaring flight, Pat a shorter one, and Pete a sled ride to the lz where they all drank well deserved beers.
OCTOBER 31 TEMPLETON The high pressure stability of fall/winter flying has set in. It was a colorful fall day, but initially very light. Later it became fully soarable and eventually wondered in such a fashion that one could fly up the ridge to the north end of the town of Templeton where Larry Huffman still got to 1,200over launch quite late in the day. Pat Brooks and Jim Meadows struggled mightily on their first flights before succumbing to gravity. Jim later got 1:15, and Pat :40 flying Pete's Fusion. Larry had the longest flight of 1:45, Pete got :50 (1,300agl) in two flights, while Paul Donahue and Mike Neuman each got about half an hour.
NOVEMBER 1 TEMPLETON Another extremely unpromising day produces respectable flying. It was completely overcast and virtually still when the first pilots arrived. As they set up things became a bit more reasonable although the first pilot Jeff Seruset endured the indignity of a ride to the lz after a short flight. After that things turned on and everyone soared in thermally lift that was occasionally quite good (400fpm+) to a max altitude of 2,300 over (Jim and Larry): Jim Meadows 1:15, Paul Donahue circa 1:20 in two flights, Jeff Seruset 1:07, Larry Huffman 1:05, Pete Lehmann :55, and Pat Brooks :45.
NOVEMBER 14 AVONMORE The blue sky disappeared as a front arrived bringing with it high clouds and suddenly improved lift. It had been trashy on the ridge before the clouds arrived, and Jim Meadows the first launcher had been flushed after a short flight. Larry Huffman, Pete Lehmann and Pat Brooks then launched and soon climbed off the ridge and left low. Pat in particular never got much over two grand, but got beyond Pete (9.7 miles) to land on 422 near Shelocta for 11.7 miles. Larry (2,900agl) scraped them off and continued working the light lift under the almost complete overcast and landed near Plumville for a very creditable 23.4 miles.
Back at the ridge Jim relaunched and totalled :23 in two flights, and Luke Thompson got half an hour before climbing out and landing over the back.
NOVEMBER 15 TEMPLETON The awesome November XC flying continues. Upon arriving at the hill Larry and Brenda Huffman were greeted by the sight of two bald eagles thermalling up right in front of launch. Larry and Jim Meadows then launched at 12:40 and immediately climbed out to cloud base (3,700agl) of the virtually overcast skies. Later Larry got to 3,900agl on his considerably easterly track. Jim landed on route 210 (not 954 as he told Lynn) south of Trade City for 20 miles, while Larry landed near the Marion Center Speedway for 24.4 miles. Launching about half an hour after the other two, Pete Lehmann duplicated their track and landed (well, whacked) at Larry's farm for an identical flight and easy retrieval.
Back at the hill an unusual number of pilots came out considering the time of the year and the cloud cover. John Fenner had the longest flight at 1:15, followed by Paul Donahue who got 1:10 in two flights, Luke Thompson :40 (2), Eric Shiever :40 (2), the long absent Jon McElravy :30 and Pat Brooks who was screwed by a flukey sink cycle :05. Pat then went back up top, drank beer, listened to the Steelers broadcast and performed his civic duty of witnessing the various ratings-tasks for other pilots.