Sven is still flying at 92!

My friend Sven has had some major changes in his living arrangements lately but still
found a way to get to the gliderport to fly in the DG-505 on a nice clear day.  Here he is with the parachute on sitting in the front seat and ready to go:

I'm using this old pic of a launch as I don't have one from yesterday!  Here Sven is in the front and Stan is in the rear being launched by wing-runner Quest.  

At 1000' after take-off Sven took the controls and flew smoothly just like always:

 We went east over the Diablos looking for that lift that Ken reported yesterday over the "tin roof".  After releasing at 6000' Sven flew all around over the Quen Sabe Valley seeking out that elusive lift.  The San Joaquin Valley was covered with Tule fog and the snow-covered Sierras were visible to the east:

It was very still air and dead-calm, a perfect day for gliding but we wanted to SOAR!  Alas, all we could find was some very weak "bumps" just above the ridges.  There were two golden eagles flying but we, being much heavier, couldn't exploit the meager lift like those pros could!  Sven flew us back into the Santa Clara Valley towards Hollister thinking we might get some lift over the big black fields but they weren't working either.  

We were too low for aerobatics so the loops and wing-overs will have to wait for a day with thermals! 

Even though we didn't have good soaring conditions we thoroughly enjoyed our hour peacefully and silently gliding over some beautiful scenery in the "Cadillac" of sailplanes.  Sven said he'll be watching the weather and will be back when the spring "thermal" season starts soon!

Saturday 1/22/11 rides

The first ride for Sophia accompanied by her father Jun.  The Tule fog and snow-capped Sierras were in view over the Diablos.

Michael sat in the front and flew back towards the airport after our release.  For his first flight, his control of the glider showed great hand-eye co-ordination and/or video-game experience!  He should consider taking lessons towards licensing and giving rides himself. 

Kathleen, who brought Michael in for a gift-ride, wanted to experience that type of ride for herself and she did:

Sue and Tom enjoyed their ride even though some high clouds had developed overhead:

Eric and Laura were so much fun in the air that I forgot to take their pic while aloft!  So here are their smiles after landing and a seating change!

Marilynn and Jay also distracted me from taking their pic at altitude so I got them just after our landing rollout and canopy opening:

New pics from the high school display day!

Jim put up his pics of the event on Picasa:  http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesbritton2/GliderAtSanBenitoHighSchool

Here are some showing the assembly of the glider:

Our youngest team member, Andrew, started his training at 14 and at 16 became a private pilot-glider license holder!  Here he is holding the checklist and directing us "older" pilots:

Wings and wingtips are attached and secured.  Now the horizontal stabilizer and elevator are being removed from the trailer roof mount to be attached to the vertical stabilizer:

Haven and Andrew relax after the assembly:

After the event the glider back was "put back in the box", trailered to the airport, assembled, checked for "positive control", joints taped, covered with UV-protective covers and secured on the flight line for any of the Bay Area Soaring Associates members to fly. 

Glider display at local high school

Yesterday the Hollister Soaring Center displayed a glider belonging to the Bay Area Soaring Associates club at the San Benito High School in Hollister.  The glider was disassembled at the airport, stowed in its custom trailer and towed to the center of the school campus where it was assembled by four pilots in 15 minutes.  At lunchtime we showed the sailplane to any and all who were interested.
The glider used was the DG-505, a state of the art German two-place high-performance sailplane:  http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/kurzbeschr-500-e.html

Jim, a glider pilot instructor, and Andrew, a private pilot who started his training at 14(age to solo) and earned his license to fly gliders before he had his driver's license, were ready with all the answers!

It appears that our youthful sailplane pilot is just as interesting to this student as the glider is.  Whatever works to get our youth interested in something other than video games and Facebook!

Here we have Quest, the HSC manager, explaining the fine points to a student and his coterie:

This picture is destined for the school newspaper:

MLK Day rides

Another beautiful day for glider rides in Hollister while the Bay Area was experiencing foggy conditions!  Both family groups were concerned about the weather conditions and were pleased when they arrived for their rides.

First to fly was father and son, Chee and Ben:

Serendipity and her mother Eva went next:

Ben could take his mother for a ride when he gets his license at 16!

Family values strengthened by mutual experiences:

Viroo brought his two daughters down from San Jose for rides thinking he would accompany both individually but after his ride with Ithica he felt the two girls would enjoy the "roller-coaster" ride together!

Here is Diya taking a picture of her father and sister before the launch:

Ithica and her father enjoy the ride:

Diya and Ithica were very happy to ride together:

Passenger's Pics!

The couple, Connie and Kendall, who flew on Saturday had their iPhones and took pics of our ride.  They kindly sent two for me to put up here as I had not taken my camera on the flight.  Amazing, this new technology!
    Here we are on tow behind the Pawnee over the San Juan Valley looking west towards the Monterey Bay with San Juan Bautista below in the lower right.  The gauges, left to right, tell us we are flying 70 mph, climbing 400 fpm, at 4500' MSL while "squawking" VFR 1200(transponder tells radar and other equipped planes where we are)!

After our flight Connie got in the front seat for a nice photo op!  Or is it an advertisement for the iPhone?

Saturday 1/15/11

     The day was perfect for glider rides!  Soaring weather it wasn't as there was no convective activity but for a smooth ride and visibility it was a beautiful day.  The hills were green and we could see the whole Sierra Nevada Range covered in snow over the Tule fog blanketing the San Joaquin Valley.
     My first passengers were Connie and Kendall.  I didn't have my camera so we took pics with their iPhone and when they send me one I'll post it here.
     Jeanine got in the front seat and I took the rear with my camera this time.  Her smile shows the pleasure of experiencing the view while "quietly" aviating in the local area.

Two men came down from the Sacramento area for their individual rides.  Both were eager to handle the controls and fly while we had the altitude to recover from and difficulties encountered!  Always fun to take "first-timers" for their initiation flights.

straight and level flight:

And some maneuvering:

Birthday ride for Aswa from Sangita

We had to wait for the overcast to clear before we could be towed to 6000' towards the Monterey Bay whose southern half was obscured by low clouds.  There was some slight turbulence at the boundary layer ~2800'.  The visibility once above the remaining cloud was great with Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Diablo and the Sierras in view.  Sangita had asked me to surprise Aswa with some "roller-coaster" type maneuvers which we did with her giggling accompaniment!  They both said the ride was better than they had expected.  Maybe we have another glider student pilot!
Here they are ready to taxi to the runway:

In the air the smiles are even bigger:

After landing I had Sangita move to the the front for taxi to parking.  They now know the "best way to get high"!

Dustin rides and flys!

Dustin enjoyed the total experience from the parachute/bailout briefing to the tie-down at the end of the ride.  Flying from the rear seat gives me the opportunity to have my passenger experience the totality of the flight with the unobstructed view and the feeling of being alone in the new environment(when I'm not talking).  After the aerobatics Dustin flew the rest of the flight until the actual landing.  When I commented on his ability to control the glider so well on his first flight he said, "video games"!

Last day of the old year for Gaurav's first flight!

Here is a young man who works with the latest technology out to experience basic flight without an engine or the "whiz-bang" goodies that so capture the attention of today's youth.
This sailplane was designed, built and flown long before he was born but is all new to him.  After a quick introduction to the basic controls his analysis is positive for flight!

And again there is that gesture of approval once we have released from the towplane and are free to point the nose anywhere and glide around using this unique visual perspective for our personal enjoyment.  A little respite from the "hustle and bustle" below.

His gesture had me look it up in Wikipedia: 

 This day also brought my friend Peter from San Jose with two friends for rides in the state of the art two-place German designed DG-505:

Gaurav had a look-see and sat in the cockpit after they were done flying.

This sailplane type has taken many soaring pilots on flights of 6+ hours and 500+ miles.  A modified version of this model was used by Steve Fossett and Einer Enolvdson to set a world altitude record of 51,000'!

I think a window may have opened for Gaurav.  He knows where to start now if he wants to find and go through a door into an interesting world.  Good luck, H...