2011 Season Underway

From Wolfgang...

When I arrived at Pendleton today I noticed our old Puchacz trailer was parked at the carpenter shack, with C-GJCZ inside. Thanks Jarek for bringing it home. The fuselage is now in the workshop and we are preparing it for inspection by the TC delegate and our club AME.

On a flying note, today we had thermals with strengths up to 6 kts, beautifully strong spring thermals. Come out to fly. (Editor note: you know the thermals are strong when you perform a two rotation spin followed by a spiral dive...as part of the spring checkout...and end up 500 ft higher than you started!)


From Jean-Marc...

Yes, GGC is the proud parent of a glistening preemie named Zulu.

She is a beautiful Bubo Bubo (read on), granddaughter of our venerable Puchacz, shown here at the start of the 2007 season, ready to spring into action.
The family name, Puchacz, actually means Eagle Owl, which scientific name is Bubo Bubo (ours was a Canadian Bubo Bubo).
This species has been known to soar on updrafts, unusual for an owl. It can live for 20 years in the wild and has no natural predators. Man-made causes are the leading cause of death.
So, after mourning our Puchacz during the winter, I had the pleasure this morning to witness the hatching of a new one in the expert hands of Wolfgang Weichert, who exhibited all the temperamental traits of an expectant father.
The most difficult part of the whole operation was actually moving the egg to the delivery room.
Then, everybody was so excited to find out what was hiding in the shell that assisting the hatch was not a difficult decision.
Wolfgang was quick to brief everybody on how to deal with a breech birth. All hands were called on deck to pull out this tall baby.
Once it saw the light of day, it became obvious to everybody that there was no down on this bird, so Wolfgang decided to put it in our brand new incubator.

That gave us a chance to admire her more closely.
If only babies could come with an owner's manual .
Thanks for the new addition to the family Wolfgang!

JM

To see a real Puchacz hatching, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-J-Y2fvaw8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCF5F3WOK0Y&feature=related

And then, for the grown up version landing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA6XSrM0V_0&feature=related

Cheers,
Roger

"Illusions" & GGC History

It is sometimes said that life is not a destination but rather a journey and that things usually come full circle. One of those things came around full circle in Lake Placid this past weekend.

The past 2 weekends have provided pretty good mountain flying conditions for those intrepid aviators for GGC, RVSS and MSC that wanted to get a jump on the wave camp fly week but nothing prepared me for the visitor we had at the end of the day Saturday. After being kicked around in mixed wave/thermals conditions for most of the afternoon the KLKP glider pilots were treated to some fine “18m span eye candy” with a visit of a 1938 snapshot of how to build an 18m span aircraft (well, 18m spread across two wings that is...). Jim Catalano dropped by in his “better than new” Fleet model 16 biplane (better known as a “Finch” to those of us in Canada). To new members of GGC your first reaction may be “cool” but where is Roger going with this…stay with me…

Back when Pendleton aerodrome was established as a home for #10 Elementary Flight Training School (EFTS) for the RCAF in 1942, the aircraft used for training where Tiger Moths and Fleet Model 16s (Fleet Finch). Kind of interesting now that GGC has started to make a pilgrimage to LP for a fall wave camp that one of the ghosts from RCAF and GGC history is lovingly cared for and flown by a local LP pilot.

For those Richard Bach fans, the Fleet Finch (powered by the famous Kinner B5 engine) is the type of aircraft that he flies in his book titled “Illusions”.

The photos say it all…

Cheers,
Roger

The “Cri-Cri” is Alive!

Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a Cri-Cri?


This past Sunday the Boudreault hangar was abuzz with preparations for the first flight of David’s recently acquired Cri-Cri aircraft. This aircraft design holds the distinction of the world’s smallest twin and looks like a model where a large bubble canopy for the pilot clearly seems to be an afterthought. After a series of low and high speed taxi tests and a detailed inspection, Ron launched the Cri-Cri into the skies of Pendleton with it’s two 15 hp single cylinder engines spinning the props at 4500 rpm. After a few circuits the Cri-Cri was back in the hangar for a well deserved rest.

So the next time you look to the skies at Pendleton remember that you may not be looking at a model airplane buzzing around at 300 ft but rather a full-fledged aircraft at 2000 ft!

2009 GGC Lobster Party

The 2009 edition of the annual GGC Lobster party was held last weekend under cloudy but dry skies. The cooking fires were lit by 5:00 PM and soon the cast iron pots were boiling with fresh cooked lobster. Barbeques were also lit for those tastes were preferred the bovine variety of “Alberta Lobster”.

Throughout the evening, diners were entertained by the GGC version of those “Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines” (using models) as Jeff flew his self designed, blue foam “Thing” and Greg with his sleek electric glider. A true study of contrasts…The "Thing" once again proving that with enough thrust and flight control software (gyros), you can make anything fly and Greg showing what can be done with 10% of the normal thrust from his “Superflugel”.


As darkness fell, Nial set up a non-stop 10 minute fireworks extravaganza which was quickly followed by lighting the bonfire with bow and arrow (al la Barcelona Olympics…well…sort of).
Special thanks to all who helped make the 2009 GGC lobster party such a resounding success!

GGC @ Vintage Wings 2009

Early June signaled the annual migration of a GGC towplane and glider to the annual Vintage Wings “Open House” at Gatineau airport. The day started with low overcast skies but things cleared up completely by noon. Vintage wing’s recent acquisition, a P-40 Kittyhawk was prominently on display with flybys of the Corsair, Mustang and Staggerwing occurring through the day. There was steady traffic around our L33 (TR) that was ably flown in by Dan…after a 40 minute long holding pattern tow, to wait for a slot to land at the airport. Special thanks to all who contributed to make this event a success!
(photo M. Lacasse)

MayFly 2009!

This past Victoria Day weekend GGC was a beehive of activity as the 2009 edition of the MayFly competition got underway. The four competition days ran Friday (15th) through Monday (18th). 10 pilots/teams in a mix of single and dual seat gliders took to the skies around Pendleton to challenge the weather, and each other.
The MayFly competition was started 11 years ago as a “learning” competition to introduce novice cross country pilots to competitive soaring. A blended handicapping system that combines pilot experience with glider performance has proven quite effective in leveling the playing field amongst pilots and aircraft.
Over 2300 km were flown by all pilots over the three contest days. 1500 km on the Monday the 18th alone! Doug provides an interesting insight to the launch activities on the second contest day.

"Initially with only the Pawnee launching the contest grid, a gopher came out of his hole in the third last L-33 on the grid, saw his shadow, jumped into the Citabria and began towing gliders to hasten the launch, After a few tows this intrepid groundhog was seen racing back to his trusty L33 mount to fuss around with parachutes and cushions etc., and after a few minutes joined the other MayFly pilots on course. Special thanks "Wiarton Martin" for his enthusiasm and persistence to keep the launch grid moving! "

Morning briefings focused around analyzing the pervious days’ flights and contest flying strategies/techniques. Evening barbeques and entertainment in the clubhouse rounded out the weekend. The 2009 contest results are posted under the MayFly tab of the GGC website.

Special thanks to all who helped to make this GGC signature event such a success for 2009.

Roger "(and Doug)"

Early May GGC Adventures

What a weekend! May 2-3 provided stellar conditions for soaring even with 24 kt SW winds at altitude. 7000 ft thermals with average thermal strengths of 4 kts made for a memorable 2 days of flying.

Saturday evening also provided good clear sky conditions for the first runway walk of 2009. Runway walks at GGC are a tradition that go back to the early years of club operations at Pendleton aerodrome. A group of members usually head out after dark to walk the triangular circuit of GGC runways, usually stopping at the far SW corner of the runways for star (and satellite) gazing. Norm, Andrew, Brenda, Lucile, Niall and yours truly bundled up to officially usher in the 2009 runway walk season.


Roger