Flying on the 17th of March - 2007 this time!

With the warm weather last week to melt the snow and the cold temps overnight to freeze the runway last night, the weather aligned just right to allow the first flights of 2007 today.

John Brennan - in typical Irish fashion remarked that it was a suitable manner to celebrate St Patrick's Day. Other particpants on the day were Dan Bush, Andrea Kuciak, Scott McMaster, Dave Springford and Luke Szczepaniak.

Of course with the cool temps, the Citabria needed a good pre-heat before firing up, but after 20 minutes of pre-heat and pulling the prop through a few times, by hand, it fired with no hesitation - I think she wanted to fly as much as we did.

Most people think of a snowball as something you throw, well today it was something you followed on take-off, because if you look really closely, you can see a blue and white wing sticking out of it! (Click on the pic to enlarge)

Here it is from the outside

There were even a few thermals, with the vario peaking at 5 knots. The duration award for the day goes to Dan Bush who managed 25 minutes, including a couple of spins from a 3000 ft tow.

And if you have never seen snow covered runways at SOSA from the air it is actually a beautiful sight.

With a forecast overnight low of -11 C, the runway should be good and solid for some early flying tomorrow as well. We plan to open the hangar at 9 am and do some more flying.

As the sun warms the ground later in the day, it tends to become a little soft so we will likely only be able to fly until about 1 pm and then we will need to stop when the ground softens up.

So if you want to fly come out early!

Spring Work Weekend and Small Hangar Unstacking

The Work weekend is scheduled for Sat and Sun April 14-15.

All members are expected to attend one of the two days to help prepare the club equipment and facilities for the up-coming season.

If you have specific tasks that you think should be accomplished please contact Herrie (facilities), Andrea (grounds and equipment), Al Grant (aircraft) with your suggestions


All private owners who have glider trailers stored in the small hangar are asked to remove their trailers from the small hangar on Easter Weekend 7-9 April.

Flying at SOSA on the 7th of March

A Blanik circling over the Lion Safari on the 7th of March.

A few hardy souls braved the cool temps and managed to get in the air. This early start to the season does not happen every year - things need to align just right, cool enough temps to keep the runways frozen, yet not too much snow to hinder flying operations. As it is, the snow is still covering the runway today, but a year ago we flew the first flights of last season on this day. With the warming trend on its way at the end of this week, and a little rain to wash away the snow, we might yet be flying before the end of March! Keep your fingers crossed. And for those who thought I was talking about 2007 - sorry about that :)

SOSA AGM and Awards Banquet

A well attended AGM took place this past weekend with a room full of members to hear reports from the Board about last years activities and plans for the future.

Mike Sury busy at the registration table

Dave talking and John listening :)

Dave still talking!

After the meeting many toured the Museum with Mike Sury's father as the tour guide

The cocktail hour before Dinner

70 people attended the awards banquet and were treated to a wonderful meal. Following dinner, certificates and awards were presented for the 2006 flying year.

Solo Certificate Presentations:

Mark Karamanis - Dennis Dyke - Spencer Hunt - Ping Wu

License Presentations:

Ping Wu

Instructor Ratings:

Andrew Corrigan - Rafael Bravo - Eric Gillespie

Awards Presentations:

Ken Larmour Award - significant contribution by a first year member - Neil Wilson

Chris accepting on Neil's behalf

All-round Junior Trophy - best non-badge pilot use of Junior - Keith Hartley -162 km Triangle - SOSA- Platsville-Tillsonburg.

Kyle and Jay accepting on Keith's behalf

The Doug Winger 500 Trophy - fastest 500 km triangle flown from SOSA - Joerg Stieber - 501.7 km Triangle @90 km/hr - SOSA- Priceville- St Thomas - Hagersville

The SOSA Flight Achievement Award - for a significant flight by a SOSA member - Wilfred Krueger - 1194 km @ 138 km/hr - Ely Nevada

Honorable Mention: Jerzy Szemplinski - 1012 km @114 km/hr - Mifflin, PA

The Royal Crown Cola Trophy - best flight by a silver pilot - Jay Allardyce - 432 km @80 km/hr

Dr. Wolf Dietrich Leers Award - SOSA Instructor of the year - Scott McMaster

Douglas C. Winger Trophy - significant contribution by a Tow Pilot - Scott McMaster


The Reinhard - for a significant contribution to the non-flying operation at SOSA - Jean-Marc Henry

Tribute to Bela Vados

We are sad to inform you that with his family by his side, at Princess Margaret Hospital, on February 9, 2007, Bela Vados passed away. Many will remember him for his passion for flying that he shared onto Peter and for always helping around the club those many years. Bela was quiet but always there when someone needed assistance. He joined SOSA during the 60’s and really enjoyed the time he spent soaring and also the time he spent with other members chatting and dreaming of flying. I will always remember, a few summers ago, at the flight line during a very windy day. Peter was towing and all his landings were perfect. Bela turned around to me and said: “This kid can fly”.

He was really proud of Peter. You may also remember him helping Steve with the BBQ’s or roasting 5 or 6 turkeys over the fire for Thanksgiving dinner. The club would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the Vados and Burany families for their loss. In lieu of flowers, a Donation to the Princess Margret’s hospital in Bela Vados’ name would be preferred.

Annual Report

The Annual Report for the 2006 season was mailed to all flying members last week. If you do not receive your copy by 15 Feb, contact Dave.

The 2007 membership form is available on the SOSA website. Click on the Member Login button on the left navigation bar and then on the Membership Forms link. You need Adobe Acrobat software to open the form. The form may also be accessed directly at:
http://www.sosaglidingclub.com/9MembersLogIn.html



Please print a copy of the form and bring the completed copy with you to the AGM on 24 Feb. This will save time during the registration process prior to the meeting.

Don't forget to RSVP to Mike Sury if you plan to attend the Awards Banquet. Dinner cost will be around $35.

From the Skies to the Skis

Three young SOSA members endured lift lines to tackle Mount Chicopee in Kitchener. Neil Wilson and Jacob & Nathan Corrigan were out cruising the slopes and enjoying winter now that it is here. All had new skis and were testing them out by pushing to the edge. This makes up for not being at SOSA.

Andrew Corrigan

WestJet Flying into YKF

WestJet has announced that they will start flying into Kitchener airport starting 14 May until the end of October. There is one flight per day arriving at 1737 and departing at 1810.

This should not have a significant impact on SOSA operations (or at least not as much as Hamilton). All flights will use runway 25/07, so the arriving 737's will likely stay north of SOSA near the 401. Departures should be no concern at all as they climb rapidly and all departures are westbound for MB, SK, AB and BC. By the time arriving aircraft descend to altitudes that would conflict with our operations they will likely be within the YKF control zone.

The SOSA Airspace committee is aware of WestJet's YKF plans and will be in contact to determine routings and try to resolve potential conflicts. We should have better details available to pass along during the spring Instructor, Tow pilot and Field Manager meetings sometime in April.

As we find increasingly busier airspace moving into our flying area, it is incumbent on all of us to continuously be on the look-out while flying and to respect the required VFR separation from cloud.

So it might be a good idea to review what type of airspace is over SOSA and what the requirements are. This might make a great question during spring check flights!

2007 SAC Insurance Plan Details Released

The 2007 SAC Insurance Plan has been released and I will soon be sending the rating guides and renewal details to all private owners via email.

There have been some significant changes to the plan this year.

1. Private ship and club ship hull premiums have been decoupled to recognize that private owners have demonstrated a lower loss level in the past than the club aircraft.

2. All pilots must undergo an annual checkride to be insured (both private and club aircraft)

3. New deductible limits
a. the standard $500 deductible remains

b. 5% or 10 % hull deductible is available for a 5% or 10% hull premium decrease respectivley

4. a pilot claim declaration must be made by all private owners every year

5. The 2008 plan renewal date is moved to 1 Mar 2008, so this policy covers a 13 month period

6. On average the base premium decrease for this renewal is approximately 2.5% for Club Aircraft and 16.5% for Private Aircraft (Liability Only and Ground Risk Only aircraft receive a smaller decrease). Actual decreases will vary for individual aircraft.


Insurance coverage for all aircraft is bound over until 1 Mar 2007 when full payment is required for the 2007 policy.

2006 – It was a very good year

The 2006 flying season was a very good year at SOSA. Despite the wet weather in the latter part of the season we managed to fly 3597 flights, up from 3406 flights in 2005. We also celebrated FIRST SOLO flights for:

Dave Akaydin
Justin Allport
Dan Darragh
Dennis Dyke
Gary Green
Spencer Hunt
Mark Karamanis
Francois Labelle
Andy Mazur
Neil Wilson
Ping Wu

GLIDER PILOT LICENCES for:

Scott Hube
Anna Piascik
Tomas Rezek
Ping Wu

and INSTRUCTOR’S RATING for:

Rafael Bravo
Andrew Corrigan
Eric Gillespie
Sergei Morozov

This increase in flights is in part due to an increase in members in 2006, but flat rate programs also made a significant impact on the number of flights members take. The flat rate programs have become very popular since their introduction in 2004. Approximately 50% of the membership now purchase either the 10 hour block or unlimited flat rate package.


The atmosphere at the club is also a contributing factor to the successful year. During the year many visitors remarked that SOSA is the most welcoming club they ever visited! The flight line is a bustling happy place, hangar flying in the clubhouse, camaraderie on the field all contribute to the atmosphere at the club. If members feel happy while at the club they are more likely to spend time at the club and fly more. It is important that we make all members and visitors feel welcome.


The increase in the number of flights also translates into good fiscal performance for the club. Once again as a result of our flying operations we booked a good surplus in 2006. This surplus can now be used for future improvements to the club facilities, equipment and fleet. This also means that there will be no fee increases for the 2007 flying season.

Equipment upgrades for next season include a new LX5000 flight computer in the LS4. This computer will be identical to the unit in the DG505. The LX4000 will now be installed in the Jantar, improving its instrumentation and making it contest ready. The Blaniks will all receive new Borgelt electric audio varios. New seatbelts will be installed in GHL and CXC as well as the front seat of the Citabria.

LX5000 and B40


AGM

Don’t forget the AGM scheduled for Saturday 24 February at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM). Registration will start at noon and the meeting will start at 1 PM. After the meeting the Annual Awards Banquet (with door prizes) will start at 6 PM at the CWHM. Join us for the meeting and banquet to celebrate the success of the club and our members during 2006.

A Contrast in Wing Loading

In 2003, Rod Crocker flew his 1-35 (K9) from SOSA to Lindsay Airport to visit a friend at his cottage. After landing in Lindsay he parked his glider beside this Cold War vintage CF-101 Voodoo Interceptor. With a 100,000 lb take-off weight, the Voodoo is quite the contrast to the 1000 lb MTOW of the 1-35.

As a side note, one of our members, Doug Bremner, flew Voodoos as both a rear seat weapons operator and later as the front seat pilot during his days in the Canadian Air Force. If you catch him on the airport one day ask him about intercepting Soviet Bear bombers over Northern Canada in his day. He might also have a story about a parachute!

Where is Paul?

Some of you may recall hearing that Paul Fish was off to Africa for six months of volunteer work. Paul has created a blog so that everyone can keep up with his adventure.

His blog is located at:

www.paulinsierraleone.blogspot.com


Drop in and see what he has been up to.

New Flightline Timekeepers' Board

Thanks to the carpentry skills of Doug Bremner and the concept from Pat O'Donnell, we have a new portable flight line office.

In this photo you see the "office" in the carrying mode....all folded up and easy to carry into or out of the bus.

Photo #2 Shows it in recording configuration....the daily flight sheet is held down by two Plexiglas strips (much the same as our old unit worked) and the flight tickets are shown parked on the upright board. To the left of the blue line are the airborne tickets ...to the right of the green line are the "on the line" tickets.

Photo #3 Illustrates the interior storage spaces where there is room for a year's supply of daily flightsheets and at least a month's supply of pink tickets along with space for pens, pencils and the clock.

Photo #4 Shows the daily temporary storage bins for the filled-out-after-landing pink tickets, the filled-out-after-landing white tickets and the blank ready-to-use tickets.

Many thanks to Doug and Pat for seeing something that needed fixing and going ahead and fixing it! It sure looks like this office will help improve the timekeepers' fare on the flightline, especially on those days when it is too wet to move the bus.

AGM

The AGM and Awards Banquet will be held at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Sat 24 Feb 2007.

More details including the Menu for the Banquet will be forth-coming.

Circle the 24th on your calender and join us for a wonderful evening celebrating the successes of our members during the 2006 season.

Flying in November

It looks like the weather is finally going to cooperate this weekend.

With the sun and wind all week the runway should dry out enough that we can do some flying on Saturday November 25.

Come on out and lets do some flying!

Another New Solo at SOSA in 2006!

Is it really possible to solo this late in the year? Just ask Justin Allport who flew his first and second solo's yesterday. Congratulations to Justin on this big step in a lifetime of challenges that soaring has to offer.

In total we flew 11 flights on the 10th of November. Scott Hube, who was driving along highway 8, noticed the flying and stopped in just in time to get the last flight of the day. The air was perfectly smooth, and Scott remarked that he had never flown in air so smooth before. In fact he just had to do the "look ma, no hands" routine.

Despite the wet weather lately, it is still possible to do some flying before the end of the year. If we can get a few days of drying for the runways, we can keep flying until the runway is buried in snow.

Also don't forget the annual New Years day get together at the clubhouse starting around 10 am on the 1st of Jan!

Work Weekend

The work Weekend scheduled 4-5 Nov saw a small group of dedicated members out to help prepare the club facilities and equipment for the winter. Many jobs were accomplished, including some glider clean-ups. Shown here are Ange Savoia, John Brennan, Tom Coulson, Sam Savoia and Luke Szczepaniak replacing the tire on the Junior ICQ.

Tom also winterized the clubhouse water system, so for the rest of the winter the only useable bathroom is the handicap bathroom.

Another crew lead by Sergei Morozov, Wilf Krueger and Jean-Marc Henry looked after the demolition of the office trailer parked near the hangar. Now that the superstructure has been removed it will be much easier to dispose of the chasis.

While Scott and I were in New South Wales, Australia in October we took one day to visit Southern Cross Gliding Club in Camden (south of Sydney). It's amazing how gliding clubs all over the world are all the same. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. We even ran into someone who had been to Sosa and taken a flight in our Puchaz in 2005!!

Scott took a flight in their DG1000 and I flew their Lark. The Lark isn't as glamorous but I had never flown one and may never get the chance again. It felt like a higher performance Blanik. I would definitely not recommend a Lark for Sosa. I found the control harmony unpleasant; you had to lead with the rudder just like the Twin Grob and the ailerons were extremely heavy.

Scott's comments, "Special thanks to everyone at Southern Cross, Bill Nixon in particular, for arranging this, it was a busy day with great soaring, you can imagine that there was a fair line up for the airplane.
Since SOSA is in the market for another 2 seater I was particularly keen
to compare the DG 1000 to the DG 505. Generally I found the two
airplanes very similar. Handling and performance were close enough that I had a hard time telling them apart. Advantages of the 1000 over the
505 include a simpler tail ballast system and slightly higher
performance (46:1 vs. 44:1). Another advantage is the way the 20m tips
are angled on the 1000. This moves the ground contact point into the same place as a 17m wing, reducing ground looping possibilities.

Disadvantages were confined to the tail wheel landing gear configuration; on the DG 1000 the lack of a nose wheel makes it a pretty big step up to either cockpit.
While it is a beautiful ship I can't recommend getting the DG1000 instead of another DG505. I didn't feel the tail ballast setup and performance increase justified the extra price, especially when it would mean adding an extra type to our fleet with all the subtle conversion issues that brings with it. That said, if we did get one everyone would love it (as long as we got a 3 wheel undercarriage!)."
Look at the attached picture of the DG1000...notice the guy hanging off the nose of the DG1000 so they can get the tail dolly off?



We also had the opportunity to fly a Super Ximango motor glider with one of their very generous members, Richard "the dentist" (everyone called him that so even I have forgotten his last name).

Thanks Richard for letting me do all the flying. I got the two hour scenic tour to Stanwell Park on the coast, flying south over Wollongong then heading west over Kangaroo Valley. We shut the engine off at that point and soared back north to Camden. I couldn't tell how strong the thermals really were because most pegged the vario (over 10kts)!!!

Then Scott took a shorter, one hour flight with Richard over the Blue Mountains. I hadn't realized just how hilly the east coast was! I had assumed all of Australia was like the outback, flat.
I must say that Australians are just as friendly as I expected. We'd definitely go back for a visit in a heart beat. Although the 14 hour flight from Los Angeles wasn't as bad as we expected the 14 hour time change when we got home wasn't something I would want to repeat too often.

Andrea