Volume
1 Issue 5
Nov.-Dec. 2006.
Volume 2 Issue
6
JAN – FEB – MAR - APR
2008
APOLOGETICA
Alert
readers will note from the peculiar date on the masthead that this newsletter
has been absent from your electronic newsstand for a
while.
A variety
of serious family illnesses requiring urgent attention and even a couple of
deaths (firmly proving the truly serious nature of the emergencies) have
combined to keep me away from the glider port as well as the keyboard. In the process however I may have
managed to set a new record for the number of ASEL trips between PRC and FUL--
some of which were on autopilot in a non AP equipped airplane.
Member
Happenings
All
societies have incorporated a variety of rites of passage into their
cultures. One relatively recent
rite evolving in our own culture is that now nearly universal practice of a
youth promptly obtaining a driver license at the age of 16 years after a few
months of study and practice.
Coury
Clark had a different goal for his 16th birthday. Coury, a sophomore at
After
a couple of hours spent in an intensive oral exam administered by Federal
Aviation Administration Examiner Tom Allen, Coury and Allen then took the
practical test in the 2-33 sailplane.
Launched by a winch tow to an altitude of nearly 2000 feet above the
ground, Coury performed an intricate series of maneuvers required by the
Practical Test Standards and completed the test by a precise landing.
Offering
congratulations were A.C. Goodwin, Coury’s Certified Flight Instructor along
with fellow glider club members Terry Clark and Rod Clark, Coury’s Grandfather
and great-uncle respectively who have mentored Coury through the process. Adding a bit of distinction was Dick
Townsend, the most senior member of the Prescott Soaring Society.
Unlike
some of his more traditional peers, Coury will
not
be translating his rite of passage to hauling his friends to the local fast food
restaurants. Instead, we suspect,
his friends will be lined up to experience the joy of flight, slipping the bonds
of earth in a carbon neutral glider.
See
Local
News article at:
HTTP://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&subsectionID=1&articleID=55116
Pipeline
Report
In
the Nov. – Dec. 2006 issue of this newsletter, we offered a prediction that a natural
gas pipeline would soon be constructed through our glider port. This prophesy, of something less than
biblical proportions came to fruition last month.
While
it may not be a permanent impediment to our operations, it did result in the
demolition of our luxurious member shelter and the realignment of the launch
area and runways.
Another
Cliff Hanger
The first
installment of a serialized version of Cliff Hilty’s summer vacation appeared a
very long time ago. You may
remember that when we last heard of Cliff it was very late in the day and he was
looking for an alternate landing site enroute to
(Continued
from the previous issue)
Searching
the Garmin 196 database I found what appeared to be just the right ticket. Red
Rock 7 miles south of the restricted air space listed as private and 122.8 as
CTAF. A town a few miles away and only a mile off of 95 just where it turns to a
four lane hwy. Perfect right?
Well, I
directed my crew into the completely abandoned airport with the altitude I had
left (I told you I was going slow). And proceeded to set up a low pass to check
the wind (and get some thrill from this frustrating flight) when I noticed some
vehicles with lights coming in the way my crew did. As I flew overhead I could
see machine guns and flak vest on about 6 men that looked serious. I pulled up
and landed and rolled up to the ramp about 50 feet from where they were
surrounding Rose and the motor home. Now this was quite a picture.
If you
have ever met Rose she is 4'11" blonde and has 6 guys standing around her like
she was Saddam himself. I opened the canopy and yelled "Please guys don't scare
her" and all I could here was Rose laughing (she does that when she gets
nervous). They weren't laughing and promptly came over to escort me over to see
their Lieutenant and explain what I was doing there! Well now, I work for the
government and understand what a hassle they can be IF they want to be. So I
spent the next 2 hours trying to make them, the Nye county sheriff's dept and
the Mercury duty officer (
And after
much sucking up, letting them search everything from cell phones, cameras and
motor home to detailed pictures of my panel and GPS systems and assuring them
that I did not overfly Mercury (even though its not in the restricted air space)
they escorted me to the freeway with the warning "Don't come back.” And we were
on our way to Vegas.
We got to
Vegas just after dark and finding that the RV park at the Circus Circus had
raised their rates to $70+ a night we decided to drive on to Laughlin and more
reasonable rates. We got there around midnight and set up and got to sleep. We
spent the next day and a half there enjoying the river and casino's night life
and movies giving my crew a well deserved break
As we
prepared to leave on Sunday morning for the short drive back to
call the
motor home decided that the fuel pump we put in was not installed right and quit
running before we got out of the park.
Now I'm
sitting here, glad to be back at work (if for no other reason than to pay for
the money pit) with another bill for 400+ and planning a trip back to Laughlin
to pick it up. Having used Rose's parents for the retrieve from there, I guess
I’ll be hitching it back to get the hulk back to
All in all some absolutely wonderful
soaring flights, some absolutely hard soaring flights and some absolutely
wonderful friends to spend time with. I guess we will just have to try it again
next year!
Some
acknowledgments in order of appearance, thanks go out to the following, without
whom this could not have happened: Tony Smolder, Tom and Jodie Dukerich (yea
your as good as married), Harry, Barb, Mikey and Heather Smith, Randy Acre, Tom
Kelly, Pam Ted and Riley Wagner,
Carl
Herold, the wonderful ex marine mercenaries at Mercury and all of the mechanics
that have treated my money pit with such care!
Thanks All
Hope to see MOST of you next year!)