Shenandoah Valley Soaring

Two safety meetings, one on a weekday evening and the other on the following Saturday morning, will be held June 6 and 10 at the Augusta County Library, on U.S. Rt. 250 near its intersection with Rt. 608. Two meetings are being held for the convenience of members; if you can't make one, go to the other.

The new SVS Operations Manual will be handed out and discussed at both meetings, which also will include talks on safety issues by SVS instructors. Walter Grooms will raise some such issues at the June 6 meeting and Jay Darmstadter will be present at the Saturday one to talk about safety matters.

SVS member Hal Loken has qualified to be a club tow pilot and is now being included in the tow pilot schedule, which is possted on the SVS Web Page.

I never thought it would happen, but on Sunday April 15 it did: I soloed! The week leading up to the event had been filled with waiting, not only was the upcoming weekend looking flyable, it was also the start of my spring break. Finally, when the weekend came, though, it looked like my plans of flying would be soured by the weather. Saturday brought rain and solid overcast. By Saturday night I has given up all hope of flying...

When I woke up on Sunday, to my surprise, it was not raining. In fact it was actually sunny outside. My next thought was on the wind, the major factor in whether or not I could solo. I knew from past experiences that the weather in Charlottesville can be vastly different from the weather over the mountain. I figured the only way to find out was to head over to Eagles Nest. My dad and I arrived at the airport around noon and found Walter, my flight instructor, was waiting for me. The weather was great, there was barely any wind and there appeared to be little convective activity. Walter and I went over the per-solo test that he had given me, and with this done, we got ready to fly.

Walter wanted to take a flight together first, though he did let me know that I would be soloing, as long as I kept my flying 'conservative'. Knowing that I could be soloing, I put the call out to my mom (who was working, because she is an enrolled agent and it was the heat of tax season) to come on over to the airport! I pre-flighted the 2-33 and got ready. By the time we were about to go, I noticed some not-so-friendly looking clouds forming to the distant south west of the airport. By the time we were on tow, these clouds had grown and they were obviously producing rain about twenty to thirty miles away.

The flight was an uneventful sled ride, but at least it satisfied Walter (and myself) that I could actually still fly the glider. On the ground, Walter told me what I feared: I couldn't solo as long as there were storms around. It appeared as though the weather would ruin my plans again, and worst of all, my mom had already left work and was on her way.

Walter went up with some other students while I sat on the ground and watched what the weather was doing. After about two and a half hours, it finally appeared that the storm had moved off. The 2-33 landed and I anxiously waited while it was retrieved. We got the 2-33 staged, and I got in for what would be the ride of my life.

I got the final words of wisdom from everyone while I was getting strapped in. I was warned how much lighter the glider would be when I was alone. I was especially worried about this because it turned out that I needed ballast in order to be within weight and balance limits when flying solo. I got buckled up, did my pre-takeoff check list and got ready to go SOLO!

Meanwhile the tow plane was also getting ready to go. Bud, the towpilot yelled "CLEAR!" and I heard the starter engage and the prop spun around but the engine didn't start! No problem, I thought, it has done this before. Just give it another try. The same situation played itself out for another five times... now I started to get worried. It would just have been my luck to get as far as sitting in the glider alone, waiting, and then to have the towplane have engine problems. Finally, on the sixth attempt, the towplane roared to life and started to taxi and take out slack.

"Glider one niner tango is ready for tow," with those words I was off. The initial ground roll was nothing different but when I lifted off, it did balloon a little bit. After the towplane was off the ground, the glider flew better than I had ever known. The tow was uneventful but I just could not believe how easy it was to fly, the glider just seemed to want to follow the towplane with no input from me. The rest of the tow was uneventful and at 4400 msl I initiated a soft release, "Glider away!" and I was off.

My first reaction of being off tow was indescribable. I simply was free! I knew there was no possibility of lift so I slowed down to 45 knots and floated around. Going in circles around the airport, I got used to how different the glider feels when you're solo. It is amazing how much better the glider handles and how slow and smooth it flies when loaded so lightly. While flying around, I glanced backwards and no one was there!

My solo flight would only last a short time, though. Before long I found myself nearing pattern entry altitude. I had to make a point to speed up for my pattern. I did this, checked the dive brakes, and made my call: "Eagle's Nest traffic, glider three six one niner tango is entering a left downwind for landing on runway two-four Eagle's Nest." I couldn't believe I was actually going to have to land the plane with no possibility of help from Walter if I messed something up. Everything in the pattern went fine; I had a nice landing with only a small bounce on touchdown. (The glider really is much lighter when flown solo!)

Everyone, who congratulated me on my solo, met me on the ground. The strangest thing was now that I was back on the ground, I began to get really nervous. I guess it's better to be nervous after soloing than while doing it. I walked back down the runway with the glider in tow behind my dad's car.

As I walked I thought about the last flight, it seemed to have gone by so fast, but it was definitely the ride of my life. I couldn't wait to go back to school and tell everyone what I did on spring break!

Now is my time to thank all the people who helped make this wonderful experience possible. First, I really need to thank my parents for letting me do this; many parents would not let their son fly at such a young age. My dad also has made huge sacrifices in having to drive over from Charlottesville sometimes four times a weekend. Walter, my awesome flight instructor also deserves great thanks, he had to put up with me! Walter spent counless hours giving advice and mentoring me, to the point where I felt confident while flying.

And finally, I would like to thank everyone in the club who has helped me in my great learning experience, THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!

Saturday the 6th of May, promised to be a good soaring day. The Skew-T print from the web indicated -3 or -4 all the way to 7500 MSL and the temperature range indicated a high cloud base at 7500.

At about 2:30 p.m. I was about ready for a tow. Waiting in the hot cockpit of the K-6, I wondered what flying opportunities were ahead. Was being this hot really, really worth it? At 2:39 the tow started down runway 24. Larry Burruss was the tow pilot and he changed directions after flying over I-64 and we headed for the Afton on the Blue Ridge. It seemed like a smooth tow.

Over Chinquapin (This is a large housing development in the woods near the western base of the Blue Ridge) the spoiler/airbrake handle came back quickly. On a K-6, the air brakes are engineered to open if a dangerous speed is reached. This keeps the sail plane from going beyond Vne. I do not know what activated the air brake/spoiler, but my guess is that we flew through a strong thermal wall. My hand was curled in a fist behind the handle, so the handle went by and I could not grab it.

The K-6 was descending quickly. Before I could get the spoiler handle pushed forward and locked, I noticed that my DANGER indicator needle was in the red warning position. I elected to make a quick release from the tow plane. When I glanced at my altimeter, it indicated 2400 AGL and descending. It was set for a local trip near the airport. I now believed it would be extremely local.

Turning in a circle, and checking the low angle to the airport, I doubted that I could glide back safely. I then spotted two fields, that I had walked on, that were possible landing sites. A few seconds later, the K-6 contacted a good 4 knot thermal and I banked and began to circle.

After reaching 7500 MSL over Afton, I flew back and forth waiting for Jim Garrison. He was towed to the same thermal and climbed to 7500. NOW THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGAN. Jim was in the 1-26. If any of you ever have doubts about the flying potential of the 1-26, you can forget them. Jim said over the radio, "Lets go to Wintergreen." So we did. I followed him along like a little puppy. No, I would not have been as adventuous if Jim had not been there, even with the good lift conditions. I have only Jim to thank for this wonderful flight and showing me that it can be done.

After reaching Wintergreen Resort and losing only about 1500 feet, we both contacted another 4 knot thermal and climbed back to cloud base. Jim then said, "Let's head west. We'll go out to Stuarts Draft." The conditions were incredible. We were in street most of the time on this leg of the flight of 10 miles or more. I could not believe how well the 1-26 was gliding. I have flown so may flights in sink in the Valley that I had lost some faith in its ability to stay up.

We found some 2 knot thermals over Stuart's Draft but could not find a 4 knot thermal. We flew further south over the Blue Ridge and toward Greenville. Going back over the sand pit near Stuarts Draft, we contacted a good 4 knot thermal, climbed to cloud base, and headed back to Afton. Again the street was working and the glide was wonderful. We flew street at about 55 mph and there were very few indications of sinking air, and the lowest altitude for the whole flight was 6000 MSL. I was awe struck at the lift conditions.

Upon reaching Afton again, we contacted another 4 knot thermal and worked ourselves back to cloud base. This time we headed north over Scott Mountain, Bear Den Mountain (it has all the transmission towers) and then to Saw Mill Ridge. It was a wonderful afternoon high in the sky. Two sail planes dancing under the cu. Looking for the best turn. Feeling the lift. Sensing the sink. It was the best of soaring. It was the best of flying. It was poetic.

Jim announced that we should fly back to Afton, but I told Jim that I would have to go back to the airport because I had a meeting to attend (Never have a meeting to attend on a good soaring day!!!). So we began our final glide to the airport.

We left the area over Bear Den Mountain at about 6000 MSL and proceeded west. I decided to take a more northerly route to go over my house and then turned southwest to the airport. When I arrived over the airport at 4000 MSL, I could see Jim in the 1-26 cavorting in the sky doing steep turns and descending to the pattern for runway 6.

There were still two knot thermals over the airport and it was somewhat difficult to descend to pattern. I practiced slips and finally pulled the spoiler handle and made my landing on runway 6. Two hours and 24 minutes earlier, I had been sitting in a hot glider waiting for some planes to land so that I could begin the tow to the Blue Ridge.

On the ground again, I realized what a fantastic flight Jim and I had experienced. Do I want to do that again? Do I need to answer that question?

Jim taught me a valuable lesson: "You have to believe that you will reach a thermal like the one you leave." Only then will you leave the airport and strike out to fly a triangle and go somewhere besides just around the airport. Jim stated later that our entire flight was in gliding range of the airport.

Thanks again Jim.

All in all, it (May 20) was a pretty good day. But, it didn't start out too great. Jim (in his AE) returned to the field after a short excursion to the Blue Ridge, as did the Lark (our first attempt). Later, we (Dave and Bruce) caught back up with Jim and flew a small thiry mile triaangle, twice.

Actually, the thermals were strong (to 9000 msl, once), but far apart or so it seemed to us. We also thermalled with Randy and Walter on one of the legs (their only company prior to our arrival being a silver coaated Mother's Day balloon).

It is really quite comforting to have a guardian angel flying along side of you. Jim would radio us with updates on the GPS distance to the aairport, announce turn points, and wait patiently at cloud base while we inched our way up.

Like Gordon said, we basically just followed him like a puppy. I don't think we were ever more than ten miles from the airport.