April , 2006

Volume 4, Issue 3

NEXT MEETING: 7:00p.m  May  18, 2006 AT LEPPERT (click for directions)

 

 

ww.centralindianasoaringsociety.org

 

 

  From The President

 

Three Priorities: Marketing, Marketing, and Marketing 

 

Look!  Up in the sky... It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... It’s CISS!

 

There’s no getting around it.  CISS is a SUPERCLUB!  At the same time, if the Club intends to fly even higher by owning and operating a glider flying facility, a significant increase in membership will be needed.  It normally takes around fifteen new members each year to replace ongoing attrition.  Twenty or more annually would increase Club membership significantly. 

Why more members?  Owning an airfield is more expensive than using a free public access airport.  The more Club members, the greater the funds available for operation and the lower the cost per member.  But you knew that!

For a snapshot of the numbers your Finance Committee is studying now, take a moment to recall your own household expenses: mortgage, insurance, light, heat, building repairs, re-paving, lawn-mowing, etc.  Now multiply by three or more.  Is the picture coming into better focus?

Effective marketing of CISS probably isn’t best accomplished by someone from outside the Club.  Think about it this way.  As a Club member you are certain to know more and be more enthusiastic about your interests than anyone else.  Who can tell the CISS story better than you?  You’re already an experienced marketer if you’ve ever talked with a friend about your favorite topic, invited a neighbor to join you in your favorite activity, or passed along information about your favorite hobby to your business associates.  You’re a marketing pro!  That’s not to say newspaper reporting, public announcements and other methods of getting the word around aren’t important. It’s just that your one-to-one networking is more likely to result in new members for CISS. 

Then there’s another opportunity readily available most weekends. Be the first to greet visitors at Alexandria!  Visitors stop by because they are curious about soaring, many having a background in aviation or at least a strong interest.  Go out of your way to make them feel welcome.  Show them how the Club works and how they can observe operations safely.  Visitors or others they know (family members, relations, associates, friends, acquaintances, etc) just might turn out to be splendid additions to the Club.

Well, there you have it.  Now that you realize how important you are as a marketing pro, throw back your cape, display the famous big “S” identifying you-know-who, and enroll new CISS members.  No need to leap over tall buildings in a single bound or move faster than a speeding bullet.  Your own SUPER(MAN) MARKETING FOR CISS will work even better!

 

Jim White  President , CISS Board of Directors

 

Gliding Trivia

Ø       The first two men to set foot on French soil on D-Day were glider pilots (though they landed on their heads through a barbed wire fence, as ordered).

Ø       The first man on the moon was a glider pilot, Neil Armstrong.

Ø       The first gliding record after 1903 was set by the Wright Brothers (for duration).

 

CISS CALENDAR 2006

 

April

 

1-2     

 

First weekend of regular flying

 

 

May

 

01

11

18

20-21   

 

Agenda items for the Board meeting to Jim White

Board Meeting at Jim White’s house

Membership Meeting - 7 pm at Leppert Mortuary in Carmel

Away Weekend at Lee Bottom

 

 

Report From The Board - The CISS Board met on March 9.  The Club has purchased a Grob 102 for $20,000.  The Board endorsed a required cockpit check and written test for the Grob 102 proposed by Mike Rielage for the Safety Committee.  The Board decided to accept Pete Detore’s offer to store the 3 aircraft trailers on Pete’s property to make room for the Grob 102 in the hangar.  The Board authorized Pete Detore to purchase a golf cart not to exceed $1750 with the trade of the old cart (which is not working).  The Board set up an executive committee to deal with urgent club business. The executive committee consists of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary.  The board established a committee to research and report on data logger options.  The committee will consist of Mario Lazago (chair), Darren Bedwell, and Don Taylor. 

 

The Board accepted the Safety Committee’s recommendations:

 

Issue: Retracting the Landing Gear on the Blaniks

Ø       The instructors have agreed that failure to operate the retractable landing gear on the L-23 is a disservice in the training of students and rated pilots in that it fails to educate them in the use of the system (which could be tested on their practical exam) and fails to prepare them for more sophisticated aircraft system use in the future. Such instruction will begin this season. As a result, the safety committee requests CISS official support for the following policies:

Ø       CISS pilot rated members may operate the retractable landing gear in the Blanik, L-23 at the pilot's option. We recommend that pilots wishing to operate the retractable landing gear do it first during a flight with an instructor pilot.

Ø       After a "gear-up" landing in the Blanik, L-23, the glider will not be returned to flight until an inspection of the aircraft and landing gear has been completed to identify possible damage and a ground operational check of the landing gear has been completed in accordance with Director of Maintenance guidance. (Note: DOM will publicize the procedure for DOs and all crew members and it will only require inspection by a rated pilot to return to service unless damage is found.)

Issue: Opposite direction landings

Ø       CISS will continue to conduct launches east with landings to the west under the conditions of light and variable winds when there are few glider operations.

Ø       A CISS glider and/or tow plane will not be left in position for launch on the runway during any approach to either grass or paved landing areas. (Note: safety meeting will place emphasis on having all crew members clear the area before staging, and removing staged aircraft if traffic begins to conflict.)

Issue: Spring Safety Meeting is Mandatory

Ø       CISS affirms that club members will not be permitted to sign up for operations unless they have attended the mandatory Spring Safety Meeting or completed the “make-up” reading of the items covered in the Spring Safety Meeting, completed a short quiz, and have signed a document indicating they have reviewed the required materials.

 

 Feel free to contact your board members about your concerns.  The Board consists of Jim White -President, Chris Carpenter -Vice President, Mike Beckage -Secretary, Gerry Whitson-Treasurer, Craig Bixby - Maintenance Chief, Peter Detore – Director of Operations, Tom Eaton – Chief Tow Pilot, Nyal Williams – Chief of Instructors, and Trustees: Darren Bedwell, Dan DeWitt, Mario Lazago and David Newill.

 

ZA's View of the Grob G102-C77 - Now that the Club has purchased a used single-seat Grob to add flying enjoyment to the fleet, you are possibly wondering just what it offers.

This version of the single-seat Grob was introduced to the market in 1977, several years after the first single-seat Grob was built. In fact, the complete range of single-seat Grobs comprises no less than 8 variants. The one we now have is one of only a couple in the US. It is in fine condition - but not new - so it has some cosmetic wrinkles. The Gelcoat is in very good condition and the pre-purchase inspection revealed no flaws that could not be taken care of. It comes to us from Canada, where the SOSA Club has flown it for 5 or more years.  They in turn, purchased it from one of their members who originally brought it into Canada from Holland when he moved to that country.

      These Grobs are possibly the most popular single-seat gliders ever built (close to 900).  That's way more than all the various 1-26’s, or all the Standard Cirrusses in the world.

Performance-wise, it fits in well with the Standard Class gliders of two generations back and with very respectable performance. Best glide ratio is around 38:1 and a really big advantage is that the glider has a big wing area (133.5 sq ft) - just like a Standard Cirrus. AND, as it can carry water ballast, the wing loading can be increased considerably making it both good in weak conditions and a racer in strong conditions as well. My expectation is that, only on days with better than 5 knots average lift, will water be worthwhile here in Indiana.

This glider is a good performer.  I personally owned one and my best flight in it was a 750km FAI triangle. The WORLD ALTITUDE record of over 49,000 ft was flown here in the US in one in 1986!

Club pilots who transition to this glider will find it has a roomy cockpit, pleasant handling characteristics and will be suitable for lots of badge or record flying in Indiana.

The glider does have a retractable main wheel so be sure to add “Wheel down and locked” to your landing checklist. And for those who plan to go cross country in it, be sure to get familiar with the trailer.

 

Happy Landings ahead in this great glider!  Ron Clarke

 

Bob Gillan recently received the Older Hoosier of the Year Award.  And no wonder!  He has given over 3400 instructional fights at CISS, taught in Thorntown for 44 years, and farms 185 acres in Boon County. He was a Navy pilot in WW II.  He helped found the Thorntown Heritage Museum. He organized the Boone County Bluebird Society which led to the construction of 5000 nesting boxes. As an Advanced Master Gardener, he helps organize the Boone County Garden Festival each spring.  At 89, he is the oldest active farmer in Boone County. He is a published author, member of the Scribbler’s Writing Cub and with his spare time is an active member of the Boon County Ham Radio Club.   Congratulations Bob and thanks for all the flights and fun! 

 

Soaring Tips

Ø       After releasing from tow, generally climb all the way to the top in the first thermal you get.  Who knows? There may not be another one for miles around!  Besides, this will help you assess how good the conditions are, how high the lift goes, the direction and strength of the drift.  And it will give you more time to find the next thermal.

Ø       Look for the next thermal upwind from your last one.  Thermals and sink usually are in channels parallel to the wind.

Ø      If in sink, fly crosswind to get out of the sink channel.  Never fly downwind (unless there’s a gaggle, cloud or other known source of lift there).
CISS – SAFTEY MEETING NOTES

By Mike Rielage, Chair of the Safety Committee

Safety Briefing Materials This Spring Safety meeting is mandatory for two reasons: 1) To update Club members on concerns from the previous year, measures that the Club is taking to resolve them and new practices to be implemented. 2) To meet the desire of our insurance company to have members refreshed on safe operating practices.

An individual who misses the Spring Safety Meeting must read the safety briefing materials in the CISS Safety Read File, complete the short quiz on those materials, and enter a signature indicating that he/she has completed the reading and quiz. Ask the Director of Operations/Crew Chief for the Safety Read File when you come to fly.

Members will not be allowed to sign up for an aircraft unless one of the two paragraphs above has been completed.

CISS Soaring Safety Over the years of 2001-2004, the general aviation accident rate has been averaging about 6.5 accidents per 100,000 hours.

Within the Central Indiana Soaring Society, our members have had four accidents since 1994. If we figure about 30 hours per active Club member each year (including flying in privately owned gliders) and average active membership of about 65, our accident rate guesstimate is about 20 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. The rate means not a lot…..except to our insurance agent.

What have these accidents involved?

  1. No accidents involved tow planes.
  2. One accident involved an instructor and student during a training landing.
  3. Two accidents involved recently rated glider pilots on single place glider flights.
  4. One accident involved a privately owned glider.
  5. One accident involved a belated off airport landing.
  6. Two accidents occurred on landing.
  7. One accident occurred in the traffic pattern.

Our greatest risks are landings at an airport and flights by recently rated pilots. The objective of this is NOT to terrorize our membership. It is to emphasize the importance of constant situational awareness by all pilots.

How can we best prevent accidents within CISS? There have only been four accidents in eleven years to arrive at the above information. How many “close calls” have we seen? I am willing to bet you have seen more than four unusual events yourself. What did they involve? As an instructor, I have personally had a few events each year that keep me alert.

We need to know what you observe that may cause questions or concern. To do this, we have a program called “SAFE SOARING.” Using the form included in this edition of Wingtips you can make the CISS Safety Committee aware of safety concerns and questions regarding our operating procedures. Even the most inexperienced observer can notice a problem. Using these reports we will have many more events than just costly accidents to identify policy or procedure problems in our Club operations……and we can remedy them BEFORE there is an accident.

The form can be completed and dropped in the “flight sheet box” in the hangar or given to a safety committee member. It can be anonymous.

The safety committee members are: Nyal Williams, Pete Detore, Craig Bixby, Tom Eaton, and Mike Rielage.

 

 

 

Newsletter Available In Print  If you would prefer to receive a printed copy of  Wingtips by mail rather than by email, please contact George Saunders.

 

Send your newsletter articles and pictures to George Saunders or Mario Lazaga.  The deadline for our next newsletter is April 15th. 

 

 

It’s All in the Angles

 

 

There have been some recent concerns about low approaches to the Alexandria airport creating hazards for vehicles on the roads off the ends of Alexandria’s runways.

For a “standard” paved runway airport, the FAA mandates that the runway approach be clear of obstructions, from a point 200 feet from the end of the pavement at a slope of 20:1 (3 degrees) from the horizontal. (At 220 feet away, an obstacle could be 1 foot above the height of the runway end; at 400 feet away an obstacle can be 10 feet above the height of the runway end.)

There are exceptions to every standard. When this standard cannot be met the threshold must be displaced or relocated to provide an appropriate clearance over the obstructions. This information is published in the Airport/Facility Directory. For Terry Airport (now Indianapolis Executive) there is a displaced threshold on runway 36 of some 157 feet due to crops. We also know that the threshold landing to the south of Terry is well beyond the end of the pavement. In fact, a part of our departure from Terry related to damage to an antenna caused by a tow rope when the tow plane landed on the pavement “short” of the marked landing threshold. At Alexandria, the runway thresholds are displaced as follows: 09 by 195 feet and 27 by 270 feet. In the manuals addressing obstructions, public roads are expected to contain obstacles (trucks, busses, and farm equipment) up to 15 feet high.

When the threshold is displaced, the 200 foot buffer is eliminated and the 20:1 (3 degree) clearance slope is projected outward from the displaced threshold marking.

Why this angle as a “safety margin”? An airplane “standard, stabilized approach” is expected to be at approximately 20:1 (3 degrees). Both the Visual Approach Slope Indicators (VASI) and the Instrument Landing System (ILS) are also set at a standard of 3 degree approach angle. These approach aids present an approach angle that leads to a point about 1000 feet from the end of the runway. This provides excellent clearance for airplanes.

Airplane pilots also operate to a normal landing standard that plans the touchdown in the first third of the runway. Without power, most small airplanes have a glide ratio of maybe 10:1 (about 5 degrees).

When gliders operate with the alternate safety standard of a displaced threshold, sometimes there can be problems like those we seem to be facing. The first problem relates to the glider landing standard. There is NO requirement to touchdown within a specific proximity to the approach end of the runway. The landing standard is to touchdown, roll out, and stop within 200 feet and not beyond (private pilot) a selected “stop point.”  It is normally prudent to plan the glider approach to the middle 1/3 of a landing area rather than the first 1/3, and to pick a “stop point” based upon this.

The second problem relates to the glider’s performance.  If the threshold is the glider pilot’s landing target, then the performance capability of the glider comes into serious play. If the pilot is aiming to touchdown at the threshold of the runway and comes in “clean” at about best glide speed, the Blanik will be at about a 28:1 (2 degree) approach path. This is only 2/3 of the obstruction clearance allowance that is provided for airplanes.

At Alexandria, the numbers work this way. On runway 27, the 275 foot displaced threshold provides a 20:1 clearance over the road (a 15 foot obstacle). A Blanik touching down from a no spoiler approach at the threshold would be less than 11 feet from the roadway surface. The PW5 would be just over 9 feet, and a 42:1 glider would be just over 7 feet above the road.

As discussed in the annual safety meeting this year, the “normal” glider approach should use some amount of spoilers and be on the high side of halfway between a full spoiler approach angle and a no spoiler approach angle.

It is possible that those of us who are power-rated pilots may be reverting to our “airplane landing” criteria. It is also possible that we are landing closer to the approach end of the runway to avoid the extra time needed to move the glider from farther down the runway.

Going to the middle 1/3 of the runway at a glide angle with some spoilers on should alleviate the risk. Ask our flight instructors for clarification.

 

Maintenance Procedures Following Gear Up Landing In the event that a Blanik L-23 lands with the landing gear up, follow this procedure to return the glider to service.

  1. Place a couple of tires, padding, etc in the nose dolly.
  2. Slide the nose dolly as far aft under the cockpit as possible. (Note: you may have to lift up the nose)
  3. Cover saw horses with padding.
  4. Lift the tail and place the saw horses under the tail for support.
  5. When there is adequate clearance, extend the landing gear and lock in position.
  6. Cycle the landing gear to assure ease of movement and ease of locking in up and down positions. Leave the landing gear in the down position.
  7. A rated glider pilot will perform a visual inspection of the fuselage, wheel well, wheel, tire and gear strut. Look for sheet metal damage, sign of hydraulic fluid, and wheel/tire condition.
  8. If no apparent damage return glider to flight. If there is any question regarding possible damage, ground the glider until a maintenance inspection can be completed by a certified airframe mechanic.
  9.  

 

Refresher on Tow Pilot Communication Most of us have been on a tow when we wanted to be towed in a different direction than the tow pilot is heading.  What are your options?  The first choice is to talk to the tow pilot on the radio and tell him which direction you would like to go.  Most times that will do the trick.  If you have a specific request that you know ahead of time, the best time to make that request is on the ground prior to takeoff.  After takeoff, the engine noise makes it more difficult to communicate.

 

Suppose you’re already in the air, want to turn, and there is no response from the tow pilot on the radio.  Between dead batteries, broken radios, lousy headsets, and engine noise, it happens.  The next option is to use visual signals.  If you want to turn right, then turn the tow plane’s nose to the right by pulling his tail to the left.  See page 7-2 of the FAA Glider Flying Handbook.  It is available on line at:  http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aircraft/glider_handbook/ . Be patient, it’s 230 pages and takes some time to load.   Please take some time to re-familiarize yourself with the signals.

If you will be doing any maneuvers on tow, such as boxing the wake, please let the tow pilot know ahead of time.  It will help him plan the tow so you don’t get too far away from the airport.  He will also know you are not trying to turn the tow plane.  Please let him know when you are finished with the maneuver.

 

Happy Flying!    Mike Rielage

 

 

 

 

 

CISS INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES FOR 2006

By Nyal Williams, Chief of Instruction

 

Our instructors have agreed on a couple of objectives for the coming soaring season.  The first of these is to introduce some changes in our check lists.  We believe these changes will help us achieve a safer pattern use.

The instructors have agreed that, in all training flights, we will now require that check lists be read aloud and that all instruments and controls mentioned will be touched and adjusted during this process.  In addition to demonstrating to the instructor that the student is actually making proper adjustments, speaking the list aloud is valuable because it involves the hearing sense. Studies show that speaking and hearing strengthens memory and habit formation. (Recall that senior citizens talk to themselves when they sort out what they are attempting to do.)

Rated pilots have their own checklists which they might have modified to suit their own needs.  We recommend this landing check list to all who will adopt it, and we especially recommend that all lists be verbalized.

 

Checklists - The Schweizer Aircraft Soaring Manual is the granddaddy of all the soaring manuals in this country. It preceded, and influenced greatly, the American Soaring Handbook that SSA issued in 10 separate chapters back in the mid-1960s.  With major re-editing, these chapters became the basis for the blue SSA Soaring Manual.  This SSA Soaring Manual was taken in large part by the FAA and expanded with a good bit of text and lots of color pictures to make the Glider Flying Handbook.  (This book is a lot better in some respects, but it left out a couple of major subjects required to pass the written tests.) One legacy of the Schweizer manual is the landing checklist USTALL. This list has been used for decades, but lots of pilots ridicule the LL part, many have begun to add to it or to create their own, and most realize its shortcomings.

We have devised a new landing checklist, which we intend to use exclusively in training, and which we recommend to all Club members.

 

             U    Undercarriage

             S      Speed for Pattern

             T      Trim adjusted for Pattern Speed

             A      Airbrakes checked for operation

             R      Radio Intentions

             E      Enter Pattern

 

The main reason for adopting this checklist is to assure that cockpit duties are managed before entering the pattern and that full attention can be given to “Lookout for Traffic and Land,” as called for in the old list.  In adopting this new checklist, we must be careful to keep emphasizing “Lookout” at all times and especially in the pattern. We hope and trust that this new checklist will help clean up some of the pattern problems we had last season.

We have slightly modified our Before Takeoff Check List as follows:

 

A  Altimeter and other instruments

B  Battery Belts/Harness

C  Canopy

C  Controls/Spoilers/Trim

C  Cable inspection

D  Direction of Wind

R  Radio ON

S  Safety Call (200ft AGL)

U  Undercarriage Retract (AFTER TOW RELEASE)

 

The instructors believe that, to preclude distraction, the gear should not be raised during the tow operation.  Further, some gliders have the release mechanism on the main gear and it cannot be retracted until the tow rope is released.

 

Gear Retraction - The second objective we have agreed upon for the coming season is to introduce training in landing gear retraction.  The Club culture has been that the Blanik landing gear is not to be retracted, although this was never stated as a formal policy.

When CISS first acquired a Blanik L-23 and was still providing dual instruction in the SGS-2-33, the instructors decided to refrain from operating the Blanik retractable gear in order to limit the differences for students training in both gliders.  After all of the 2-33s had departed, we continued the non-gear operating practice without giving it much thought.  

The instructors have concluded that this practice is now a disservice. New equipment comes on line; old equipment disappears; our private ownership fleet is increasing. Club members are buying more modern equipment than the Club equipment they are accustomed to flying and they are introduced to retractable gear for the first time at that point.  Our landing check-list has given lip service to retractable gear, but in practice the students just learn to ignore this item.  Such behavior can even encourage gear-up landings by training the student to dismiss this action.

The L-23 landing gear system is retractable; pilots should be trained in its use. They might be tested on its use during the practical test for their pilot’s certificate.  We would also like to adapt our training to address the likely activities of our students in the future.

The instructors have decided to teach gear retraction systematically from the very beginning of training.  This will build up a strong habit of landing gear management from the start. When students become licensed and buy their own gliders, they will already have this habit built in.  When members visit other sites and rent gliders, they will be more comfortable with a glider that has retractable gear.

The Blaniks are excellent for learning landing-gear management.  When the gear is retracted, the wheel still protrudes about 4 inches. The glider will clear the ground and will not be damaged by a gear-up landing.  A little embarrassment without damage can be good for the soul. If a pilot embarrasses himself by a gear-up landing while learning in the Blanik, he will be less likely to make a gear-up landing later on in a glider that would suffer damage.

There are some things we all have to understand about the gear mechanism in an L-23. This is important knowledge for the licensed pilots who have been flying the Blaniks. 

Let me describe the positions in turn.

Although landing gear operations will be conducted during instructional flights, rated pilots are not required to retract the gear; they have the option to fly gear up or gear down at their choosing.  We do recommend that such pilots who have not done gear retraction in the past have an instructor on board for their first retraction operations in order to experience the peculiarities of this system.  

 

Safe Flying!   Nyal Williams

 

CISS – SAFE SOARING

By Mike Rielage

Chair of the Safety Committee

 

This form is to be used by CISS Club Members to ask safety related questions, report unusual events, report safety concerns, or make recommendations for the improvement of operating safety.

 

This information will be considered by the CISS Safety Committee and a response provided via Wing Tips. There will be no identification of the sender and the reporting person will not be referenced in any response.

 

PRINT CLEARLY YOUR CONCERN ON THIS FORM AND PLACE IT IN THE BOX THAT RECEIVES THE FLIGHT LOGS AND PURCHASES. THE FORM CAN ALSO BE GIVEN DIRECTLY TO A SAFETY COMMITTEE MEMBER.

 

DATE:

INFORMATION:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USE THE BACK OF THE FORM OR ATTACH ADDITIONAL SHEETS IF NECESSARY.