Persistent Pete Triumphs - July 30th
After several failed attempts because of technical issues, Pete finally succeeded this week with a great 5 hour 15 min flight in the PW 5. The day was not easy but Pete "hung in" as the day waned - staying high up near Sheridan for the last hour as sunset approached. It's SILVER all the way now and GOLD next in his sights. Well done Pete!
- Ron Clarke, ZA

Happy Retirement Wayne
For those of you who know Wayne Baker, he has converted to Associate member. Wayne finally took a much deserved retirement on May 31. He and his wife have a second home at Fairfield Glades and they will be moving what they need over the next few months - including the Mooney. He also has a rotator cuff repair scheduled during this time which is why the move will take so long. Wayne wants to maintain contact with the club but feels that his return to active status is no longer feasible. He will give us a change of address when they move their mail delivery to TN. From all of us at CISS, many thanks Wayne for all your service to the club. Your smooth tows will be missed.

- Jeff Melin, 8C

Fun In Reno
With my dad bowling out in Reno, I thought it'd be a great idea to get a flight out in soaring mecca. Looking through the SSA website, I started calling around and ended up decided to fly with Charlie Hayes and his ASK21.

While I was out at Terry, I bought a San Francisco sectional to see what the terrain was like. First thing I noticed, was the lack of green. What is all this BROWN? Oh yeah - it's just a little higher than the flatlands of Indiana. Well ok, a LOT higher! And don't forget all those MOA's!

After a few e-mails back and forth, I found out that Charlie had gotten rid of the ASK21, now I have to settle with his new DG-1000 (be still my beating heart!).

After watching dad bowl Saturday and Sunday (he placed 28th in the Senior Nationals), Monday May 12th arrived. Marlene and I drove out to Reno-Stead. Charlie's tow pilot was waiting, and said Charlie would be there shortly. We talked about flying here vs. our lowlands. While we were chatting, I couldn't help notice the clouds above. So these are lennies - way COOL!

Charlie showed up with a nice clean trailer behind him. We spent the next 1/2 hour assembling the DG. As I was handling a winglet to put it on (which felt like it was coating with silicon), I asked how many hours he had on it, he replied that he'd only flown it about 3 hours! Assembly was pretty easy, with a neat pop-up pin mechanism for the winglets, which made it very easy to visually verify that you had it in ok. The cockpit was quite comfortable for someone my height, even with the parachute on.

After take off, I flew it around picking up some great thermals. We were able to find some very solid 1000 fpm, though Charlie said that was somewhat weak for around there. I told him no apologies were needed. We went from 7,000 to 12,000 feet in no time. porposing between clouds (50knots -120knots - 50knots). The plane felt great, with 60 degree bank turns a breeze. I did find out though how much I use the horizon here to gauge my attitude in turns. Out there, I had to contend with moutains messing up my reference line.

Unfortunatly after about 45 minutes of playing around, I started feeling not quite right (no Kurt - not like when you and I were flying at Brookside - just a weirdness). Deciding that I'd rather not christen his new plane if something came up (pun intended), I told him we should probably cut the flight short. Charlie landed it like glass with no problems.

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