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| DECEMBER, 2003 |
Volume 2, Issue 11
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Alexandria it is ! After more than 40 years at Terry airport, the central Indiana Soaring Society is moving its base of operations. Several candidate airports were considered, always with several options in mind, and it has been decided that Alexandria is the best option for 2004. To start getting familiar with the airport and its history, read THIS paper by Nyal Williams. And check back on this web page to see some pictures of the Alexandria airport and our hangar. We'll also have directions to the Alexandria airport for you to download. |
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CISS Annual Winter Banquet Every respectable soaring club in central Indiana has one, and we are no exception. What is it? Well, the Winter Banquet of course! Show your fellow pilots what Santa Claus brought you, tell them about your new year resolutions, hear everything about their new toys, and see them dressed as Nobel Prize recipients. It all happens this January 10th at the far north side of Indianapolis. There'll be Door Prizes, presentation of awards, records, licenses, best crew, best crew cut, and more. We will be honored by the presence of guest speaker Diana Shaffer will talk to us about our lovely friends in the sky: Birds Your invitation is HERE. |
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Glider Ground School So, Winter is in full blast, Christmas and New Year celebrations are over, you can't fly, so...what do you do after the Winter Banquet? Glider Ground School! Get the pencils sharpened and the notebooks ready, and put your winter time to good use learning about navigation, the weather, aircraft systems etc. Schedule and directions are HERE. |
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FINAL CLUB CONTEST RESULTS This year was the first year of a new flexible contest arrangement that we hoped would allow more people to participate and would not be as vulnerable to bad weather. Guess what.. It worked! There were 10 pilots who flew on 7 days, which is better than any previous year when we used scheduled weekends. We divided the field of pilots into 2 groups, based upon experience levels: the Red Tail group of 4 pilots had achieved the gold distance badge leg of 300Km, while the Kestrel group of 6 pilots were more-or-less cross country novices. On most days, most pilots flew the same courses which is a great way to bring the beginners up the curve. The tasks varied in distance from 41 miles to 121 miles with the exception of a few flights by Ron Clarke, who flew longer distances on a couple of days. We got in one flight in April, 2 in May, and one each in July, August, September and October for a total of 7 days. Enthusiasm was pretty high, and I would expect now that some of the new XC pilots have now gotten the bug, you'll see more flights next year. And perhaps pilots like Melin and Ruble, who were conspicuously absent from the event this year, will jump in too. Here are the results:
We will tinker with the rules a little for next year, but the general format was well received, leaving task selection up to the pilots and using any airport shown on a sectional chart as a turnpoint. Scoring is based on handicapped speed for up to your 4 best flights. And at lest 3 pilots must turn in a flight for a day to qualify as a "contest day". So look for the guidelines again in the March newsletter and get those GPS receivers ready for the next year. – Don Taylor |