A SUCCESSFUL DAY
by Mike Rielage

On Thursday, June 20th, I managed to get a number of senior members of an exercise class that my wife and I attend up for orientation flights in Blaniks. The eldest, I believe were two at 82 and one at 80.

I started thinking of one or two flights, but this adventurous group was nine members strong.

It was a little more than I initially bargained for, but, thanks to the efforts of "the usual suspects", it went off very well. Everyone reported a good time, no airsickness, and the flights went well. One of the oldest ladies said she wanted to come back and do it again for a half-hour or so.

It could not have been done without those "usual suspects" who give so much to support CISS and it's members.

The intrepid ground crew was Cheryl Beckage, Ray Bolafka, Jeff Melin, and Jim White.

The tow pilot(s) was Sheldon Munro (and thanks to Bob Currie who was to cover the back up day if we cancelled today).

Mmy fellow instructor Nyal Williams.

The fringe benefit will be an article on the adventure in the Westview Healthplex Newsletter which may bring us some more visibility.

A safety aside - both Nyal and I noted some malaise, likely due to dehydration, after our nearly two continuous hour of flight in the mid-day heat. We both were adding water, but apparently not enough as we really slowed down when we started helping take the test down, etc. REMEMBER - HYDRATE!!!! Once again my bountiful appreciation to the club for agreeing to the project and the members that made it happen so well.

MEMORABLE SOARING STORIES

Membership Chair, Jeff Melin, has a story that was recently published in a web site caledl "Memorable Soaring Stories." The story called, "Those Damn Balloons," concerns an amusing landout Jeff had, so click on the link and be sure to check it out.

This site is now a feature link in our Soaring Links list that you can access by clicking on the "Soaring Links" button in the menu at the left.

IN MEMORIAM

Former CISS member Joe McMillan passed away suddenly from a heart attack this past July. Joe loved soaring. He lived in Wisconsin, but had family here and flew with the club for a few years in the early nineties. He was 73 and will be missed.

Hi Everyone,

I visited the US for two weeks in July for a conference in Seattle and to do some work with colleagues at Purdue.

I took the opportunity, of course, to stop in at Terry. It was delightful to see old friends and I had a very pleasant flight in the PW5. Darren did an excellent 100k flight in the PW5 and there were a couple of other long flights that day. I hope to visit again sometime next year.

My family and I have now settled in here (New Zealand) and the kids are happy at school. I have done some flying, but not much unfortunately. My new job is quite demanding as I learn the ropes, but I hope will be easier next year.

I have attached pictures of Steve Fossett and Einar Enevoldson at Omarama where they are trying to get into the polar vortex.

Rick Millane
rick@elec.canterbury.ac.nz