I remember reading an article, probably in the SSA's Soaring magazine, about a pilot that couldn't seem to get the same length of time in the air as some of the experienced members at his club.  He'd be up and down, maybe up for a while on a good day, but even on bad days, the 'old guard' would log hours long flights.  I thought about my flights (short up/downs unless it was an instruction flight and Eric was there to keep us going) and the routine long flights that Merlin's 'old guard' (Dave, Eric, Stefan) would log.  It felt like I could have written the same article.  And still could!  The gist of the article was that you need to be able to sustain in the zero sink.  A lesson reiterated in Bob Wander's The Art of Thermaling...Made Easy! where Bob talks about looking for the weak (hopefully upcoming) thermals and sticking with them to see what they bring.

Last week, Pete posted a perfect example of this describing his seeing a vulture working a low thermal and going over to see if it would keep him going for a little longer as well.  And it did!  He was able to work a couple thousand extra feet and more flight time out of that decision (and holding the #2 flight for region 4 on OLC for the day).  I had a similar experience today.  Scratching to stay aloft in -1/+1 around Scott's Fork to let an incoming Cherokee land and clear the runway, I was bouncing around 1,900' - 2,100'.  I had looked for lift that Dave said was working in the area, and I just couldn't find it.  I, like any of us, could find all of the thermal marking sink, but the lift was elusive.  Knowing the Cherokee was inbound, and knowing that I could maintain in my little area, I stayed put.  As the Cherokee cleared the runway, I pulled out of my turn and started making plans to join the pattern when I found some 2kt, that turned into some 3kt.  I radioed back that I was going to work the lift and did so - pretty soon passing 3,000'.  I worked it over to the diary farm, joined with some hawks and was working 4,500'.  (I find for me, I can work thermals or enjoy looking at the birds, but both? Not so much.)  Thanks to the inbound Cherokee, and trusting more my ability to hang in the zero, I turned a thirty minute flight into one that lasted a bit over an hour.  Not an 'old guard' level effort, but one of those that let's me know it's all a matter of time and practice.  Wax on, wax off. 

One of the great things about learning to fly at Merlin is the help that each of us, especially Dave's constant lift marking announcements, works to bring the others along.  Our post flight conversations, the telling of an aspect of a flight that reminds someone else of how they deal with similar things.  There isn't a flight that I take alone.  There's always a time where I think 'Eric said...', 'Dave suggested that...', or Pete does this, Stefan does that, I saw Vince do, remember the time Greg... These things bind us as a community of pilots and make us all better and more proficient for it.  At Merlin, we desire to have a soaring club - and that means we help each other become soaring pilots.   Learning how to scratch around in the zerosphere and playing the odds that it gets better, that's fer real soaring pilot stuff right there.  It's the days like today for me, last weekend for Pete, that let you know you're on the right track.  It's smiles and congratulations when returning to the field that let you know there's a good group of folks at your back.
JD

Merlin Soaring
What a weekend!! 

Saturday started with David (a sport pilot AND glider pilot) landing at our field to take a look at our operations. He is interested in getting back into motorless flight. Dave was quick to get him setup to return Sunday for some flights in the Lark.    We decided upon a new  tow rope and longer length of 230' which solved some of our propwash issues from the Cessna on takeoff. Thanks to Eric for getting everything together with it. Much less turbulence on takeoff and no dropped wings! However, don't forget weak links must be installed on the sailplane end of the new 2000 lb tow rope for both the Schweizer ring and the Tost ring setups.   

Saturday got started with 5/8 cloud cover around 3200' AGL. Nonetheless Dave led the pack in the ASW 19 marking the lift for Greg and myself and we were able to squeeze out some nice  flights. Dave in 19 once again defied gravity and stayed up until he decided he had had his fill. Greg put away the lark and flew the 1-26 beautifully only landing because he had to leave for work. I launched in 15H twice and got some great practice. Vince showed up and we pulled out the 2-33 for some flights. It's always great to have both Schweizers in the sky. The last glider landed past 5 pm. It was a great day of flying. Smiles all around. 

Sunday was another beautiful day but without clouds. Gentle breezes around 5 kts and a strong inversion at 3500' with weak but workable lift that started around 1 pm.    Dave as PIC and Eric the "making it all possible" tow pilot started out the day at 12:30 pm with two tows in the Lark to bring our newest member David up for some soaring. No lift yet but beautiful take off and landings. David seemed like he was loving it!    David then got some refreshing on running ground ops and helped to launch myself, Stefan and Dave around 1:45pm. The Lark was not hanging well with the spotty narrow lift and came down after a valiant effort by Stefan. I fared only a bit better in 15H and landed after an hour or so. However, wanting more, I quickly got a relight around 3:30pm from Eric w/ David running the wing. Eric brought me right to the sweet spot which Dave had centered and we again did some great team soaring late into the afternoon.   At about 4:45 pm I was in 15H at 1300' AGL headed North to enter the pattern. I was hoping for a longer flight but figured the lift was done.  Before pulling the brakes though I spotted a Turkey vulture soaring above the dairy farm SW of Merlin at about 1000' ft. Hoping for just a small flight extension I redirected towards him and felt a bump. After some scratching around I linked up and together we climbed to 3000' ft. Nothing quite describes the feeling of sharing a thermal with a bird that effortlessly out climbs you! The battery in 15H was dead so I used my cellphone to call Eric to make sure they weren't concerned just as I topped out around 5:15pm. I landed after 5:30pm smiling ear to ear.  

-Pete

No doubt about it, when you have multiple hour plus flights on consecutive days, your soaring club is back in business!  JD took this photo from his phone, which also runs XCSoar during an 80 minute flight - his longest solo flight by far!  Read on for Dave's weekend report!

With Eric at the throttle, our little tug did a stellar job of getting our birds in the air, with 8 flights on Sat. and 5 on Sunday. 

On Saturday JD took to the air at 1400 for a 40 minute exploratory flight in the 26. Greg then took the warmed-up 26 back up for 50 minutes. In the meantime mother nature was making it happen! Between the 1-26 flights, I took one of 2 rides up in the LARK and for over an hour, a great time we had! Thermals to 4k and better were common and Guy came back a smiling guy. Our second ride preferred the roomy front seat of the 33 so up I  went with Terry for 30 minutes or so. By 1600, things were really cook’n and JD relighted in the 26 and well…for an hour and 20 minutes not hide nor hair nor flaking paint did we see or hear. Alas, a dead battery on his hand-held prevented him from communicating, but in no way affected his flight. Check it out on the OLC!!! And let me know if you can’t find it. Pull it up in Google, It’s even better.

Sunday saw lower cloud bases, but no matter… cloud streets and upwind lift worked well. Stefan took command of the 26 and launched at 1:30. After thermaling with Vince in the 33 for a bit, he was able to take that feather-lite little Schweizer, climb up and disappear, returning over 2 hours later. Vince’s possible ride did not materialize, so the LARK beckoned and in I climbed. She is heavy… and big, but she WILL climb! Off tow, AFTER Eric pulled me through a nice piece of lift, I was coming down and a short flight and landing did cross my mind. But upwind a bit floated a descent cume so upwind I went with the nose dead on that cloud. Sure enough it worked and I climbed back up. Stefan joined me a bit later in a thermal that seemed to top out at a bit over 3k I think? So with Stefan out-climbing me (?) back upwind I went again….into cloud-street after cloud street. Again, check out my shortened L trace on the OLC. I used the CU Recorder app to log my flight and the bloody battery on my phone died before I landed. As Pete would say… Aaarrrrgh!!!  Nonetheless it was 2.5 hours of more fun than a human being should be allowed to have. Ha ha…NOT!

Oh, and while Stefan and I were in the air, Vince and Greg got more 33 time with 3 flights between them. Both are perfecting their skills. Greg for his imminent check-ride and Vince as he comes back from all of that job-related out-of-the-country “I won’t b at the field this weekend” time!

Finally, consider CONDOR. If you have not flown a glider on your computer in CONDOR I strongly recommend it. JD and I are getting back into it… flying together on the PA ridges. Pete is our resident authority on it. No it is NOT like the real thing nor can it be. But it will teach you some good basic skills. If nothing else, get into the air (I hate those CONDOR tows) turn on those thermal markers and practice practice practice! You will begin to realize that at low altitudes generally speaking, you MUST bank tightly or you will not be able to climb up into the stronger broader lift. And them’s my 2 cents about that!

CU next weekend,

Dave

You know things are looking up when you go out to the Areodrome and actually get to write a check for tows!  JD and Dave both took 2,000' tows in the 1-26 behind our 150-180 tug.  Easy take-offs with plenty of runway left in front of us, which is just where you want it!

Dave and Eric flew the tug to Petersburg where we'll get a high torque starter put in this week.  Look forward to its return, full of fuel and ready to pull us up!  Maybe next weekend, temps and weather permitting, we can get the Lark out and see how well it tows behind the tug. 

Greg and JD put a good clean on the Lark and the 1-26 while Eric ran for gas and Dave mowed the tie-down area.  Another good day of maintenance!

How many lucky rabbits feet does it take to make sure you don't get sucked up into the mower blades?  Evidently 16.  These little folks were nestled a bit below ground level in the tall grass around the Lark.  We put some grass up around them to keep them out of the sun and less visible to the birds of prey. Hopefully Momma has moved them to a safer location.

The new outrigger brackets are in place in both wings, we should have the skin sealed up an painted and the outriggers installed (hopefully) this week with assembly this coming weekend.  If not, should all be complete by the following week.  Can't wait to see our old friend back in the air!

This Saturday, Merlin folks went to visit with a couple of our VASA counterparts.  Eric and JD met up with Tidewater Soaring Society and enjoyed a day of their warm hospitality.  They were met later in the day by Vince.  Eric and JD were able to attend the TSS member meeting, where there was some great information on tow rope material and dangers of knots in poly line.  The soaring day was windy, with 10-13Kt pretty steady, but generally right down the runway.  It was great practice for JD and Vince to fly with Eric in such conditions.  JD provided the picture of the 'TSS Grid' - we enjoy our slow pace at Merin, but it is great to spend time with the well oiled machinery of TSS!

Dave and Pete met up at Shenandoah Valley Soaring.  Pete did some spin training in SVS's ASK-21.  He emailed the following report: "I did the weight and balance for Paul and myself to get the CG aft enough to spin the ASK-21, screwed the 9 steel plates to the tail and up we went to 6500 ft MSL.  The first spin is the most intense. The plane literally does a cartwheel as it drops a wing. This feels feels similar to cresting over the top of the first big drop on a rollercoaster. Once it settles into the spin it oscillates from nose up to nose down orientation.  I had to hold the spin for 3 full rotations before attempting to recover. Slow opposite rudder to get out of it (that takes about 3/4 turns to slow the rotation down) and then a little forward stick pressure and she recovers. We repeated the exercise 3 times and then did some spin entry as if we were turning base to final."  We definitely need to arrange an MSA field trip for some spin training at SVS!


We got good news on our 2-33, it looks like the wing outriggers are repairable and parts will be enroute this week.  We should have our 2-33 up in the air behind our new 150-180 within the next couple of weeks!  Weather permitting, we expect to be flying the 1-26 this weekend - a member ship too???  Who knows!

It seems natural enough: we share the sky and our thermals with our feathered friends, we should speak their language!  MSA has joined the twitterverse as @MerlinSoaring.  This is more of an experiment at this point, likely our ground ops folks will be tweeting the notable flights of the day.  Or maybe not.  We'll see how it goes.  Follow us @MerlinSoaring and make sure to let us know if you like the tweets so we know whether or not to keep 

Merlin (very) happily welcomed our new Cessna 150-180 tow plane to the Aerodrome yesterday!  Eric, Dave, Stephan, Greg, Pete and JD were on hand for the arrival of N19094.  Dave got the first tow in the 1-26, said it was a great ride up to 3,000.

In other news, the 1-26 tire was replaced with a new tube and tire.  The old tire was starting to show signs of wear noted during the glider annual this past May.  Dave field tested the tire during his 'first tow'.

The 2-33 is down for repair.  We had some ground vehicle contact with the glider (not related to MSA operations) that ended up damaging the wing tip and the outrigger.  Our A&P, Tom, was onsite yesterday working on accessing the inner parts of the wing to determine the repair process.  We're keeping our fingers crossed for fast and simple repair needs!  

Dave, Pete, and JD have been flying online Condor Multiplayer contests.  Pete has been active in this for some time, JD and Dave are just getting started.  If you aren't familiar with Condor, it is a downloadable glider simulator with a very active and dedicated world wide following.  You can find scenery landscapes, tasks, virtual badge challenges, and online multi-player contests - complete with glider crashes in thermals, gliders falling apart due to far exceeding the never-exceed speed (Vne), and the occasional meet up between glider and tree, and land-outs when you just can't get that next lift.  

Condor is fast becoming an established part of the glider training regimen.  It provides accurate input response and helps the student pilot perform tasks similar to real life flight helping develop and refine the skills required to fly safely and well.  

The SSA's monthly magazine Soaring has a column written in alternating months by Scott Manly and Frank Paynter.  There are plenty of good tips for how to use Condor in a variety of training situations - not only student training, but also annual safety refreshers, working on skills that may have atrophied over the winter, etc.  If you are considering glider training, getting a copy of Condor may be a good way to get some 'flight experience' before you take that first lesson or FAST flight.  Knowing the basics of aircraft control means you can focus more time on your control of the aircraft, instead of how the aircraft is controlled.  

Here are some resource sites for Condor.  Feel free to ask questions in the comments section or use one of the contact forms on our web site if you want more information about Condor, system setup, etc.

Condor site (purchase and download program, patches, plane packs, etc.) - www.condorsoaring.com/
Great resource site for scenery files, virtual badge flights, etc. - www.condor-club.eu
One of many good sites for online multi-player contests - they have some kind of race every night of the week.  www.gliderracing.com

-JD

Eric, Dave, Pete, and JD went to visit Tidewater Soaring Society.  They are a larger gliding club flying out of Garner.  Great day with a lot of lift, good people and a nice dinner with some of the TSS folks to close out the day.  

As usual, Eric was busy making sure Pete and I got flights in and got a late start to the day.  That said, he recorded a couple of 8kt rides and got up to 8,000'!  His OLC map is shown to the left.  150km over about 90 minutes of flight time.  Not too shabby!

JD and Eric had a short and largely uneventful flight, which is good in and of itself.  Pete and Eric took the TSS 2-33 up and were soon calling out '2-33 at 7,500'' on the radio with a quick response from one of the other pilots of 'Liar, that plane doesn't fly that high!'.  

JD had a second flight with Mike Hess in the TSS PW-6.  Mike worked the lower thermals for all they were worth, ending up getting into the good lift over about 4,000' and working that consistently between there and 6,000' taking in the sites from Windsor to Ivor and across the Western Branch Reservoir.   They clocked in a little over 70km.  

Dave also got a late start to the day, but ended up having a good time dragging 19LK across the Tidewater stomping grounds.  Up a bit east of Smithfield, then west almost to Ivor, and then to points south, Dave traveled almost 60km with speeds over 130km/h on final glide back to Garner.  

Thank you, TSS, for providing us with a great day of soaring and friendship!