The Year 2005 in Pictures "A picture says more than a thousand words.." It is time for us to look back at 2005, to remember moments that already seem to have happened long ago, and to try to see how to do better in 2006. Here we go: On January 1st, we didn't fly as we traditionally do because the weather just didn't allow it; ceiling too low and haze. We did, however, have our Winter Banquet (of course) in spite of the heavy snow. We had a great dinner, the traditional presentation of awards, a beautiful weather newscaster as our invited guest, and an aspiring poet read a few of his lines to us.

In February, Nyal Williams and Mario Lazaga went in a pilgrimage to California to try to fly the wave since there's no wave in Indiana. They visited all those legendary soaring sites one reads about in the soaring literature (Tehachapi, California City, Crystal Air) took tons of pictures, and ate all-u-can-eat ribs. Delicious. Nyal refreshed his procedures on landing emergencies from Cindy Brickner and came back to Indiana to make all students dive with spoilers open on final approach (Ay ay ay!). Then it was Crystal Air to learn to fly the wave with Dale Masters in the San Gabriel Mountains.

In March we had our mandatory safety meeting, and we applauded when Duane Knotts was named captain by his lovely wife.

In April, we started flying again.

In May, in one of the strongest soaring days ever in Indiana, several pilots flew as high as 9000' and Mike Nichols and Nyal Williams easily made 100km out-and-returns. Ron Clarke broke the 300km record again, and Mario flew his 5+ hours for his best "Cinco de Mayo". Later in the month, the club visited the Lee Bottom airport in southern Indiana where Darren Bedwell, Scot Ortman and Ron Clarke established several Kentucky soaring records. There, we also saw one of the prettiest pilot's toilets. Gerry Simpson soloed in the PW5, and we had our Spring cookout. A new, longer Bronze Badge written test went into effect in May, just before some of the pilots were ready for the shortest old test. Daniel Gillies, Andru Ross, Michael Schmitt, Richard Schafer, and Phillip Gordon joined our club.

In June, the club held a glider camp, coordinated by Pete Detore. Gerry Whitson did his first XC, and George Saunders earned his private license. Tod Rutledge showed up one day at the airport with his gorgeous new LS4, Gerry Simpson went to California to fly the Sparrowhawk and Craig Bixby went to fly to Minden NV. Also in June, Ron Clarke participated in the Sport Class National soaring contest in Utah. Mario crewed for Ron and shook hands with Karl Stiedieck, Gavin Wills, Phillip Athuil and other soaring luminaries.

In July, Craig Bixby did his 5+ hours, Andru Ross did his first solo without a yaw string, big Mario earned his Bronze Badge, and little Mario took his 5th flight. We had Joni Mitchell a.k.a. Indiana Joni visit our club to tape a short segment for TV. The Grob had to be repaired for canopy damage, the golf carts had to be repaired for rodent damage. George Saunders flew the PW5 for the first time, and Cheryl Beckage turned 23 one more time. Chris Hall, Robert Stevens, Steve Thompson and Charlie Hunter joined our club.

In August, Andru earned his B badge, Dan Dewitt soloed in the PW-5, Mario did his Silver 50km cross country from Alex to Terry, Martin Wilkey flew his first solo and Dan Dewitt soloed in the Grob.

In September, Herr Sigfried Voss visited us from Germany. Herr Voss saw our operations and flew as Mario's passenger. Herr Voss was pleased. Dan DeWitt took his daughter for a flight in the Grob. We also spent the weekend flying at "The Last Resort" airport, a few miles south of Muncie, where we flew, ate (of course) and chatted the afternoon away. Nice memories.

In October, Mark O'Leary took his first solo flight in N303BA (Congrats Mark!) Günther "Gus" Voigt showed us that he's younger than most people 1/2 his age, or 1/4 his age for this matter, by earning his private glider pilot license exactly one year after his first try. Way to go Gus! Gerry Simpson, Dan Dewitt and Mario Lazaga drove to Tennessee to take possesion of their very own LS4 for the DAn MArio GErry corporation.. Francisco Lazaga visited us from Mexico. Close to the end of the season, the PW5 was taken for repairs after a hard landing.

In November and December we worked on the planes to have them ready for 2006. We sanded the wings on the Grob, cleaned the tow planes, lubricated all moving parts, polished the canopies and did regular plane maintenance. Now we are ready for 2006.

So!...Can we do better in 2006 than in 2005?... It is going to be hard to fly better, with Scot Ortman having established 5 Kentucky State Records and 4 Indiana State Records, Gold Distance and Diamond Goal legs with his first ever 300K flown in Indiana. Also, Darren Bedwell flew Kentucky records, and Gerry Whitson flew his first Indiana record flight, adding his name to the list in the Indiana records table. Terry Wools achieved a higher altitude in his standard class glider than the existing record. Nyal Williams flew Gold Distance twice, and Ron Clarke...well, what do you think? That's right. If we can't better that, we can surely better our safety record. Have fun in MMVI ! Mario Lazaga

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