Soaring News - November 2021

Thanks to club members, support from our club instructors and tow pilots for an accident-free year, a total of 514 (preliminary) flights were completed during this soaring season. Even though the club made a little cash for the bank, the number of flights has been on a down trend for the last 5 years from 704 flights in 2017 to 514 during 2021. The Corona virus has not helped during the last 2 years, but weather was the major cause of 45 Ops days canceled this year, 8 days in November. Our last flying day was Wednesday 11/24 when insurance was changed to storage and expected to go back to normal flying March 30 2022.

Event summary for 2021:

• Susumu Morita completed his CFIG certificate on November 10 and instructed his first student Jeremy Bonnough the last day of Ops November 24.

• Don Parish completed a (Little Pawnee) replica of the Big Pawnee, refer to the photo in the September News.

• Three club members left the club to further their careers; Jared Staib was approved for the Airforce Academy, Cameron Kemppainen was accepted at the Purdue University and Brandon Schultz gave up towing for a job flying a Cessna Citation. Brandon has since been accepted with an Airline, he is scheduled to complete Simulator training and ATP Certificate in December this year, about the time he turns 23 years old.

• Matt Schultz added airplane Instrument to his existing Commercial Glider/CFIG ratings.

• The club purchased a cross country training program called Proving Ground and several members; Brian Navarette, Bob Kuehne with Mark Geudtner as Co-Pilot and Ludwik Lembryk have taken advantage of the course. Bob Kuehne also completed the A,B and C soaring badges.

• Tom Shipp was awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilots Award for 50 years of accident- free flying and support to aviation.

• Tom Neese reached 2000 glider tows and Vaughn Bateman participated in a movie about William Knudsen a Danish-American Auto Executive while flying a B25 from Willow Run airport over the Detroit River.

• Ludwik Lembryk completed a check out in the club ASW 15 single seat glider and Soaring C badge. Refer to the December issue of Soaring Magazine.

• Dave Huck reached an altitude of 9,100 feet on a great Spring Soaring thermal day.

• Steve Rusinowski has completed a tail dolly mold for the G103 and plans to complete the project during the winter.

• Airport construction started but completed only Taxi B before cold weather arrived, Taxi A and the main runway will be completed starting May 2022. This delayed construction may affect club Ops when the main runway is under construction.

• Seat pans and batteries are removed from club gliders and ready for their annual inspection. The K21 tow hook will be removed and replaced during the winter months.

There’s plenty of inspiration to be found on YouTube to carry you through the all-too-long Michigan winter.

And start your (no) engines for next year! Start thinking about how you can keep building skills, unlocking new airplanes, exploring the area with initial cross-country experiences, and more. 2022 will be another great year for the club, but how will you make it a great year for you?

When turning from base to final keep your aim point on target, nose down and speed up. Outside rudder is OK but inside rudder is a control position for spin training. Pay attention to speed, the SSA accident reporting shows most stalls and accidents for gliders are during the landing phase opposed to the takeoff/climb out and go-around phase for power airplanes. Have a safe holiday season.

Tom Shipp/Bob Kuehne

Photo Credit: Neal Miller!