Weekend #2 – Lake Placid Wave Camp

Saturday started off very promising with string winds and visible wave lennies early in the morning over the Algonquin and Whiteface peaks. There was one small problem, a front was approaching and by 11:00 the day turned into solid overcast and rain. Ugh…

Sunday arrived with low cloud and rain with the forecast indicating that the rain would stop by noon and cloud base would lift. Well the rain stopped and the cloud lifted, slightly to about 2800 ft AGL. Too low for flying gliders in the mountains. Terry and Sanjay still managed to go up for sightseeing ride with the FBO in a C172. With some disappointment we called the day at 13:00 and Wolfgang suited up to fly the Pawnee back to Pendleton. The Puchacz was trailered back to Pendleton later that afternoon by Ian.

So ended the 2007 GGC wave camp at Lake Placid. A lot of fun was had by all those who participated and we proved that GGC can set-up and safely fly a remote (joint) club operation. The Puchacz trailer is now fully serviceable and roadworthy and we now have a list of additional planning items that we will have in place for next year. We are planning to operate for a full week next fall in LP so mark your calendars now for the week after Thanksgiving 2008!

Cheers,

Roger

Lake Placid Moments

A couple of "in the moment" pictures from Norm F. and Martin L.

GGC Arrives at Lake Placid – It’s Official

For the first time in 6 years, GGC is holding a fall wave camp.
Preparations have been underway for the last few weeks with planning to get the Pawnee and Puchacz down to Lake Placid for two weekends. Martin has done an amazing job in getting the last bits of the Puchacz trailer sorted out and we now have a fully functional and roadworthy rig which tows very well. Thanks to Martin’s welding skills, the tail feathers and wing/tail stands make rigging and derigging very straightforward.
After a few anxious days waiting for approval from the TSA in the US to fly a non-transponder equipped aircraft across the border, we finally received permission on Friday.

Saturday morning saw Martin (in the Stinson) and Wolfgang in the Pawnee take off for Massena, NY to clear customs. After a short review of paperwork and waiting for some local showers to pass, our intrepid duo took off for the last leg to Lake Placid airport.
Meanwhile our eager group of glider pilots were waiting at LP, wondering if the airborne element of the GGC airforce would make it in before the rain showers. Sure enough like a scene out of a movie, the Pawnee and Stinson were overhead calling “left downwind, runway 32, Lake Placid”. GGC history was made at 09:50 as the Pawnee touched down and taxied over to the glider tie-down area. After a few pictures we all set down to the task of getting the Puchacz rigged. After waiting for a passing shower, reviewing the poor weather forecast for the rest of the day, we elected to tie down, ready for an early start on Sunday. I offered to take those new to LP on a ground tour of landable fields in the area and soon we were off in two cars and multiple GPS units. The tour finished at the Noon Mark Diner in Keene valley for some of the best homemade pie and ice cream in the Adirondacks. Ask Martin how long it takes to eat one of their Banana Splits!

Sunday dawned foggy but rapidly cleared leaving some breathtaking views as low clouds stubbornly clung to the colourful valleys. The morning dew was soon dried off the Puchacz

(thanks to Andrew D. and Norm F.) and by 10:45 we again made history with the first flight made exclusively with GGC aircraft outside of Canada (Andrew K. towing and Wolfgang and yours truly in the Puchacz). After this we flew non-stop until sunset and even managed to give our friends at MSC a few tows in their Grob Twin. Norm F. also rigged his Discus and went off in search of wave and Martin went for a sightseeing flight in the Stinson. Although the winds were too weak for sustained wave, special mention goes to Jimmy D. and Paul G. (both recent solo pilots) who took the plunge and flew (with check pilots) in search of the LP Kahuna. With the forecast on Monday looking grim and 12 flights under our belts, we derigged the Puchacz to a glorious sunset and spectacular fall colours.

2007 represents the first year of a true combined eastern Ontario club wave camp at Lake Placid. GGC, MSC and RVSS now each have a 2 seat glider in LP and there are two towplanes tied down and ready to go (MSC – L19, GGC – Pawnee). It doesn’t get any better than this folks. Beautiful scenery, pilot camaraderie, the great outdoors, and an opportunity to learn advanced soaring skills. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when we all roll up our sleeves…

Special thanks to Bob Katz (MSC) for helping brief pilots new to the LP area and Adirondack Flying Service for their continued local support of this wave camp. Let’s hope for good weather next weekend.

Roger

Cadet Fly Week 2007 - Platinum Edition!

GGC again hosted a cadet fly week for the top five cadet pilots from the 5 regional gliding schools across Canada during the week of August 27th.
Although this event had to be rescheduled due to the use of GGC facilities by our rotary wing guests, club members under the guidance and leadership of Doug, came out to instruct, tow, run flight operations or just plain dive into the enthusiastic environment.

After a short GGC familiarization briefing the cadets where immersed in a true soaring environment which included instruction in advanced airmanship, thermalling and an aerobatics familiarization flight during the week in our Puchacz and ASK-13. Evening programs in thermalling, aerobatics and early cross country techniques were also presented during the week.
Thanks to everyone who made this week a success again this year.

Special thanks to Doug for taking on the coordination and execution of the event part way through the summer season. Bravo Zulu GGC!

People Who Make a Difference - Freedom's Wings

Soaring is more than a sport, it is a set of very powerful values, which make engines superfluous, since the only thing you need to fly is the power of human generosity. While it is true that an organization helps, in the end, human beings make the difference.
I had the honor of working with a number of them today, like Charles, Norm and Doug (who worked all day under a torrid sun). After you double click on the attached link and minimize the window, look at the pictures below. You may share the feeling.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSUfq1t7Ztk&mode=related&search

El Condor Pasa sobre Pendleton hoy.

Your reporter at large,
Jean-Marc

Canada Day Extravaganza

CANADA DAY was an interesting day at Pendleton, Rockliffe, and Hawkesbury. Andrew, Jess and I opened the hangar doors at 0800 hrs, and about 45 minutes later, Jess and I were being aerotowed along at about 85 knots and 2000 ft under a complete cloud cover some 500-1000 ft above us, along the picturesque Ottawa River towards our destination at Rockliffe airport. It is a magnificent sight to see, only once a year on the annual Canada Day Aviation event, the sprawling civilization of Orleans unravelling below you, and spreading into downtown Ottawa with all the curves in the river there, and the Parliament buildings and the glass pyramids of the Art Museum, and the Museum of Civilisation standing out due to their unique architecture. Then it is time to release at 2000 ft., with the Rockliffe runway lined up just ahead of you and to fly overhead it and the Aviation Museum and do a right hand circuit across the river to the north over la Belle Province, as the number two for runway 27 behind Andrew in the Citabria towplane, as we have enough height to do an extended circuit and besides keeping a good lookout, having enough time to take in the sights, and the few yachts making sail from the marina below, and a yellow seaplane moored on the river below. We landed shorter than last year as we had to turn off onto the Delta Taxiway into the gap between the two Aviation Museum buildings, where we were to set up the Glider as part of the static display.

At 1000 hours we prepared for a glider demonstration flight by laying out the towrope on the grass next to the active runway until receiving clearance from Rockliffe Unicom, and then taxied it onto the active runway and backtracked it a 100 ft. from the Delta intersection (many hands pushing it) as our Citabria taxied into position ahead of us. We were soon airborne and towed up to 2,500 feet, released over the airport and Andrew flew away and back to Pendleton to perform any towing duties required for the gliding operation. We circled around Rockliffe on about four circuits so that the attendees at the Aviation event could see a glider in operation, and during this activity, Mike Potter did a fly-by and extended circuit and landing below us in the Spitfire. It was a magnificent sight as it flashed by down below at something like 200 knots or more, and I had to resist being the “Hun in the sun”, and chandelling down onto his number six, and remind me that he was on our side.

Then it was down to a tiring day’s work of the endless task of closely supervising people and their children being lifted in and out of the glider, on static display, being photographed and answering the endless stream of questions. By the end of the day (1530 hrs), all 50+ brochures were gone, and besides a lot of interest in the glider and gliding, amongst the masses, there were about half a dozen previous glider pilots who expressed a strong interest in returning to the sport and possibly joining our Club. However, only time will tell, in the cold light of day, whether they will follow though. One young lad promised to be an Adam Sneyd candidate, and was surprised to see that we offer a one week program at the GGC for the disabled, and expressed a desire for the boy’s wheel-chair ridden father as a candidate for our Freedom’s Wings Fly Week. So we are keeping our fingers crossed for some new membership fallout, but certainly there will be lots of picture of people in a Puchacz on lots of mantle shelves, and so we have kept the faith and spread the word. Alice and her father, and Daniel Duclos from the GGC visited the display, as also did some RVSS colleagues (who helped with the departure). Wolfgang’s grandson sat in his grandfather’s front seat of the Puchacz, while visiting the display with Jurgen.

“MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH” - Andrew flew in and picked us up to tow us back to Pendleton, where the clouds had parted into streets, and a blue sky but no lift and so we landed. The Pendleton operation didn’t get under way until mid afternoon, but by the end of the day at about 1815 hrs, there were 8 glider operations, and at the end of the day there was lift. Jess and I wound down with an hour and fourteen minutes in the trusty old ASK-13. Indicative of the late development of thermalling activity, as we understand it, there was no competition day at Hawkesbury.

Your humble reporter at large,

Doug L-L

Lobster Tale

The year is 2007 A.C. The Lower Ottawa Valley is entirely occupied by humanoids. Well, not entirely... One small village of indomitable Avians still holds out against the invaders, thanks to Grantafix, the venerable village druid who gathers mistletoe and brews magic potions.

His specialty is the lobster potion which gives the drinker superhuman strength.

Every year, the members of GGC who gather around the simmering cauldron brimming with lobsters get their superhuman strength for the rest of the soaring season.

They are never disappointed.

They also got a pep talk from their new chief, Rogerius Hildesheimix.

The feast-ivities did not end until they gathered around the field to watch the latest demonstration of Avian power.

This year, a brave tribe member organized a display of flying menhirs in front of a small group of Avians.

They got quite a blast from this experience!














When this was alI over, I was so happy about my evening that I left the field, singing “Fly me to the moon”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rAsoLm1Ges


Your Reporterus Maximus,
Jean-Marc

Interclub Flying & Fly-In

A magnificent weekend of flying at Pendleton. The weather was wonderful, with thermals abounding ever upward on both days.

SATURDAY 09 June

Club aircraft flew with 15 flights. Several Club members had extended flights greater than an hour or thereabouts, and the GGC/MSC/RVSS Interclub Competition got underway about mid-day, with initial scratchy thermals to around 3,500 ft., but this improved considerably throughout the afternoon, with the last gliders coming home to roost at about 5:30 p.m., with LIFT still in the air - but MILLER_Time beckoned.

Early on in the inter-club contest arena, one pilot who shall remain nameless asked over the radio if the Contest was still “ON” due to the scratchy conditions making it a little challenging to get away from the airfield initially. However, a diplomatic voice from the organizing pilot announced that he was at 4,400 ft., and that it was soarable. Thus motivated, the private owners competing, magically all managed to get away. At about 4:00 p.m. or so, while flying around the greater Pendleton area in the Puchacz for a couple of hours or more, it was interesting to hear the radio chatter of the competition pilots exchanging information on where the best lift was, and to form a mental picture of beautiful white, high performance machines flying all over the skies in various locations, some roughly 100 kms away from Pendleton, and all hoping to return in the next 1 – 1 ½ hours or so as the afternoon dragged on and the Summer sun slowly descending on its daily trajectory down towards the horizon, but still imparting enough energy to the atmospheric ocean to permit our valiant wanderers to be able to return, as all did.

At that snapshot time (4:00 p.m., approx.), I could hear Ian and Tim, about 5-10 miles apart down near Iroquois on the St. Lawrence River, exchanging notes and looking for a glimpse of each other, and Roger somewhere near Casselman, and Nick (who often maintains a degree of radio silence) somewhere around St. Andre Avelin, when quizzed by Christine about his location, and probably, if I am correct from her vantage point in a Club L-33. At 4,500 ft. myself, I could see the silver ribbon of the St. Lawrence and the hills of upper New York state on the hazy southern Horizon, and pondered for a few moments about lift-drag ratios (glide angles) of 40-50, and how far the sport of gliding had progressed in the last two decades, that made it possible for these second generation, high performance sailplanes to be able to fly cross country at fairly high average speeds (especially with water ballast aboard), and to routinely, almost every good weekend, fly 2-300 km triangles or more, across country. Also the use of modern GPS systems, eases any navigational reliance on map-reading (although still a good thing to do), and always points the way home.

Anyway, I hope I haven’t bored you with this narrative, but felt compelled to paint a word picture of this wonderful sport, at the top-end, from a tired old Aero. Engineer who, while understanding the scientific underlying principles, still marvels at the magic of close to ½ a ton of man and machines can glide effortlessly on rising currents of air in the convective atmospheric ocean, supplied from solar energy.

Doug L-L

Photos: Roger H.

SUNDAY 11 June

Today, Pendleton, a “no-fly zone” for anything but whispering gliders, was about to be transformed into a gigantic beehive, thanks to Martin Lacasse who had broadcasted the magic call sign: Bravo, Bravo, Quebec!

With friends in high places, he had something cooking “de la barbe à la queue” (which is the origin of the word barbecue)!

It started small, with a timid trike which escaped before the rush…

but it did not take long before you could hear the buzz of bigger visitors...

At some point, you wondered if NAVCAN had redirected all of its general aviation traffic from Dorval, as you counted the number of aircraft on final.

Around noon, Pendleton was a hive of activity with more than 20 aircraft on the Tarmac.

The start of our flight line operation was delayed due to a change in the active runway which set the fur flying at the end of runway 13 and made Martin wonder where was the beef. But we finally managed to make it work.

In the meantime, we had a trainer on display for advertising…

…informing people about our safe training method: tie the student to the seat before you give him the stick! This way, he can touch wood at all times.

We even had a popular ride: trying to box the wake behind the Caravan.

But time flies and before we knew it, it was a Fly Bye!

This is J. Marc Gagnon
at Pendleton International Airport

Dawn Patrol - GGC Style

This past Saturday saw the GGC fleet operating at 2 different locations in the region.
The “dawn patrol” contingent, consisting of Martin, Andrew and Jess, took off with the Citabria and the Puchacz to a Fly Day event at Gatineau Airport. After expertly landing the Puchacz and rolling onto a taxiway, our crew set up for a full day of explaining to visitors of the wonders of soaring at GGC. Although the morning clouds did not look great, the sun soon poked through and soon everyone was looking for sunblock!

This event was very well attended and aircraft from Michael Potter’s collection flew demonstration flights throughout the day.

There was even a DH Tiger Moth present at the show. This was the type of aircraft flown at Pendleton during the 1940s when our aerodrome was home to #10 Elementary Flight Training School.

At the end of the day our now tired “dawn patrol” ferried the Puchacz and Citabria back to GGC with a brand new member (from the show) keeping Martin company in the Puchacz on the way back to Pendleton! This is likely a GGC first, join and fly in a glider back to Pendleton.

Meanwhile back at the field, the morning clouds did not dampen operations. A visitor showed up lat in the morning looking for an introductory ride. Although cloud base was only 1800ft, we launched and managed to have a 31 minute flight by darting cloud to cloud around Pendleton. At one point a red tailed hawk joined us in the thermal. This was one of the most challenging and enjoyable intro flights I have ever flown and just goes to show what you can do under what looks like "unsoarable" conditions. By noon the sun was out and regular flying and flight training operations where in full swing.

Special thanks go out to everyone who helped around the club this past weekend, specifically Greg who wins the “iron butt” award for mowing all of runway 31/13 and the pee patch.

The day finished up with our June general meeting in the clubhouse.

See you at the aerodrome,
Roger

Photos: Jess Rougeau

Flying, Fun & Food

Yet another great day this past Saturday at Pendleton with flights up to 6600 ft., four Club gliders flying and five private ships airborne - 19 flights in all. Our trusty ASK-13 had four flights with Art Low demonstrated spectacular solo student stamina by staying airborne for 2:07 in the K-13. Neil Spriggs (of Lotus fame) did two good check flights in the Puchacz, the last one thermalling for 1:06, and then soloing in the L-33 for another !:45 You couldn’t erase the smile from his face - I think we have a keeper.

Two of our students (Sanjay & Jimmy) also "flew till they dropped" and benefitted from extended flights in soaring conditions. Well done gentlemen!

Similarly, Christian Alexiuu flew as a guest (with an instructor, as it turns out only for ballast) in the Puchacz, having only flown in the K-13 before, and did an hour of thermalling followed by an excellent landing - well done Christian.

Benoit Gadous, a visitor from nearby Cheney, and a TRIKE owner and pilot went up for an Intro. ride, and experienced some unusual attitudes in the Puchacz. Again, he was all smiles after his flight, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t follow up by joining our Club. I sent him off clutching some brochures. Benoit sometimes flies his Trike into Pendleton when it is not in operation (the airfield that is), and I invited him to come and fly in when we are operating.

Terry Colfer did a “marathon dash” from his duties as event organizer (the marathon), to fly for an hour in the L-33, before having to dash back to his evening marathon duties in Ottawa - I think we can rate this as a “Triathlon event”, but I don’t think it will become a recognised Olympic event - nice try Terry.

Ron Smith flew some of his guests in our trusty old “tin-can” - BLANIK, on four flights up into the wild blue yonder; and lastly, but not least, Ulli Werneberg, Bill Park, Frangcon; Ulo, and our President, Roger, all flew their own ships throughout the afternoon on extended flights - all returning to the airfield of departure.

Dinner was served at the “Bourgetel”, to join the Vaughans, and Jeremic for a pleasant evening’s repast and jolly good company. If you have not yet gone to the "new and improved" Bougetel, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Doug L-L

An "Excellent" MayFly Adventure

Jean-Marc describes his MayFly experience...

The long week-end knocked at my door and I promised myself not to check my e-mails last Friday night. At first, I succeeded. After dinner, my wife and I went to Silver City to watch an IMAX movie and on our way back, we planned something for Saturday. Upon return, without even thinking about it, I turned on the computer and discovered an e-mail from Ian Grant inviting me to participate in the May Fly contest the next day and, by the same token, take a few steps toward my Bronze Badge. Without even knowing it, my better half had now entered into a competition with Ian. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and I anticipated the worst.
But none of that occurred.
I guess she must have realized that a grounded pilot constantly looking at the sky makes a pretty miserable partner. Instead, she left for the cottage with her sister for the whole week-end.
On Saturday morning, I started my “guilt trip” toward Pendleton. Ian had told me this would be a great day for thermalling and as a Roman Catholic pilot, I could not avoid the guilt of accepting the pleasure of being in Mother Nature’s arms for the afternoon. At the pilots’ briefing, however, I felt somewhat cheated when Ted Froelich gave his forecast. It was not obvious that Mother Nature was going to be so hot after all. But glider pilots must have faith. Delaying our departure to maximize our chances of staying up meant I could receive a “cross-country 101” from Ian while still on the ground, a real bonus.

Ian and I had lunch on the flight line while I experimented with the final glide calculator, which proved to be a very good idea later in the day. We took off at 14:28 and immediately after release, I thought I was going to heaven as we hit a very strong thermal which launched us to 5,400 feet in one shot.

We managed to maintain enough altitude to go through the gates and start what was going to be the Way of the Cross, a combination of courses that must have been designed by Brother Hormidas, bringing us from one steeple to another within the Pendleton area, starting with Plantagenet.

This first leg was not too difficult as we encountered zero sink most of the way.

We then met Karl Boutin in an L-33 over the church and flew in formation with him toward Fournier, at least for a while because we lost track of him along the way. Maybe I was just too busy looking at Ian’s map and giving him a vector. The total absence of thermal made me wonder if I could still recite my act of contrition. I was somewhat relieved when I saw the steeple of Fournier’s church, with a cross pointing at the sky like a glider desperately looking for a thermal.

This is when we commenced our descent into hell. Ian asked me to use the final glide calculator to figure out whether we could make it to Pendleton. We could but with a thin margin. I kept recalculating along the way, using Wolfgang’s genial contraption as if I were saying the rosary. On the other hand, landing out began to appeal to me when I realized that I would need to tell my wife I had abandoned her for a flight of such short duration. Was it better to go through purgatory before going home? We arrived over Pendleton just in time for an abbreviated circuit and made it in one piece. We had flown for 27 km via Fournier and back to Pendleton without encountering a single thermal. Our glide took 3993 feet for an average L/D of 26.5. It was a challenging day for a novice cross-country pilot!

Once at the flight shack, we found out that Karl had landed out in Fournier and we needed to retrieve the glider. One more tick mark on my new Bronze badge sticker. I gladly volunteered.

We came back to the Club tired and lucky to get assistance from other pilots to rig the glider. Doug Laurie-Lean and I held one wing and took the instructions from Normand Fortin, wiggling our hips each time he would tell us to wiggle until he told us to stop our silly antics and start wiggling the tip!
My evening ended with a free dinner with Karl at the Bourgetel restaurant, our latin temperaments soaring over a nice bottle of red, discussing how to convert new souls to our wonderful sport.

What a spiritual experience! Thanks to my wife and Ian for letting me go on a wing and a prayer!