This Week @ GGC

2011 Season Underway

2011-04-03T15:40:00.007-05:00

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

2009-09-27T17:24:00.009-05:00

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!

2009-06-24T21:42:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-24T21:27:00.006-05:00

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

2009-06-24T21:24:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-05-22T22:37:00.009-05:00

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

2009-05-11T20:33:00.005-05:00

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

Where Eagles Soar...

2009-04-29T21:12:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday provided a very unusual sighting in the skies over Pendleton. While climbing in a 3kt thermal (thanks Nick) I saw what looked like a large hawk. However as I approached, I realized it was a bald eagle (white head, brown feathers and yellow beak/talons). This is the first time I have seen a bald eagle in Pendleton. Red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons and the occasional golden eagle are more typical raptor visitors. This was a majestic, humbling sight. After a few minutes, a red-tailed hawk joined the thermal below us. The eagle’s quickly scanning head movements froze and locked on the hawk. A few seconds later he tucked in his wings and rolled into a dive toward the hawk. The hawk, sensing that something was up, also tucked in his wings and rolled into a similar dive, away from the eagle. It was like watching a raptor version of “Top Gun”. That evening I searched for more information about bald eagles in Ontario and discovered that they are making a strong comeback and the number of sightings has increased dramatically over the last 6 years. 20 years of flying at Pendleton and every year there is something new to discover… (photo: John Michell)

Roger

Wind, Soaring & Stars

2009-04-28T20:40:00.009-05:00

Friday evening (April 24th) saw GGC visited by an area astronomy club for some serious star gazing. Multiple telescopes of all sizes with all manner of tracking mechanisms set up on the runways to take advantage of the very dark nights we have at Pendleton (away from the light pollution of Ottawa & Montreal). Fun was had by all and our friends from the astronomy club will likely return throughout the 2009 season.

Saturday (April 25th) was one of those balmy, almost tropical days when winter bypasses spring in Canada, and almost leaps into summer. By contrast, and if to remind us that this is indeed Canada, Sunday was dull and overcast. However on Saturday we had recorded 24 flights at Pendleton, in windy conditions (gusting to over 20 knots), and more members had their Spring check rides. The Puchacz recorded 14 flights, and at one time the Blanik was brought out for a single flight, as was also one of the L-33s. Karl and Doug entered the "time-machine" and had short but very enjoyable flights in "Sparky" Smith's Schweizer 1-26, as also did Ron Smith. Nobody beat Alice's record the previous week of a little over an hour (guess, Alice "through the looking glass", has the magic touch, in the Pendleton "Wonderland").

In the private world of ships, Roger christened the season with a couple of flights in "AT", while Nick “ST”, unobtrusively soared around the skies in the windy conditions for four hours.

Many thanks to those TOW PILOTS and FIELD MANAGERS who helped to make it all happen. As an interlude in the day, Ron and Wolfgang and others walked a group of members through the de-rigging and rigging procedures for the sleek new ASW-24. (Photo: Andrew Kissman)

Doug & Roger

Our New ASW-24 - First Flight 2009

2009-04-10T20:50:00.009-05:00

It's official! On Thursday April 2nd, M7 flew for the first time as the flagship of the GGC fleet.

After a thorough read of the flight manual and briefing by Ulli, Martin was off in M7. Karl caught the flight on the ground and later in the air from the Puchacz (yes that white stuff in the photo on the ground is snow!).

Throughout the afternoon Karl continued with spring checkouts in the Puchacz.

It was an amazing day with impressive spring soaring conditions! Martin will be grinning for weeks...

2009 Flying Season Underway @ GGC

2009-03-29T19:56:00.005-05:00

Saturday turned out to be a picture perfect day to start the 2009 flying season at GGC.

The grins on the faces of Remi and Lee say it all! The temperature topped out at 15C and 2-3 kt. thermals were being generated by the campground forest. Doug got into the spirit with his customary shorts and t-shirt.

Although the runways were clear, there was still a significant amount of snow in the forest and campground. 24 spring checkout flights were flown by the end of the day.

10 Days of Non-Stop Flying - 2008 Wave & Mountain Flying Camp

2008-10-25T10:59:00.023-05:00

Too much of a good thing.....is never enough....

By all accounts, the 2008 edition of the Lake Placid mountain & wave flying camp was a stunning success. A mix of thermal, ridge and wave conditions prevailed throughout the camp. On some days, a combination of all three where used by pilots. Where else but in the mountains can you still find 2 kt lift at 5:30 PM in October or climb to 11,000 ft on a day with solid overcast! A short summary of each day follows.

Sat. Oct. 4th

The Puchacz and L33 were trailered to Lake Placid on Friday so rigging proceeded quickly on Saturday morning. Martin and Tommy (in the Stinson) and Paul (in the Pawnee) arrived around 10:00 AM and by noon the flight line was in full swing. Nick and Tim also arrived later with their able aircraft and were quickly airborne. A combination of thermal cloud streets and ridge lift over the Sentinel Mts. kept everyone airborne. The Puchacz and L33 were tied down beside Andrew’s campsite, a true glider pilot haven…

Sunday Oct. 5th

Flight operations were underway by 11:00 with similar calm wind conditions and slightly more cloud. Ridge and thermal lift (go figure) kept folks up for the day. The Sentinel Mts. looked to kicking up a wave over the Keene valley but no one connected, even though the wave window was quite evident (as shown in the photo).

Monday Oct. 6^th

The temperature dropped quite radically on Monday as the clouds cleared out Sunday evening. Andrew captured the frosty morning scene best with a picture. Ridge, thermal and weak wave (over Heart Lake) where the order of the day. As the wind died later in the day, thermal lift over the Sentinel Mts. kept working until almost 6:00 PM.

Tuesday Oct. 7th

Our first real wave day! Although the winds

were weak and variable, wave to 8000 ft. was present in the vicinity of Algonquin Mountain. Flying continued until 17:30.

Wednesday Oct. 8^th

Another wave day! The calm winds of the morning changed by 13:00 to a WSW flow. Carl and George (RVSS) launched in their Twin Astir with Andrew D. and Wolfgang in hot pursuit with the Puchacz. Carl and George connected first over Heart Lake and rode the wave to over 11,000 while Wolfgang and Andrew in the Puchacz capped out at 9300 ft. Later team A2 (Andrew D. and Andrew K.) launched in the Puchacz at 17:00 and also connected with wave to 8500 ft landing with the runway lights at 18:30. On landing, the grins on the faces of all the pilots were priceless! As the photo shows, life of a tow pilot when the wave is working can be quite relaxing after the gliders are launched!

Thursday Oct. 9^th

The day started and remained sunny but with much stronger winds (10 kts with gusts to 20 kts). The only disappointing part was that the wind direction of 240 degrees was good only for wave off the smaller peaks. That being said we still had three flights all over an hour in a mix of wave and thermal conditions.

Friday Oct. 10^th

The first of the big three days of the long weekend. Another sunny day with light NW winds. 11 flights with the longest over 4 hours. Strong thermals (2 - 4 kts avg.) choked off any wave activity below 6000 ft. Flights durations and XC flying through the high peaks region was the activity of the day. Andre Pepin (MSC) took off on a short XC flight to Elizabethtown and Saranac Lake airport. Sunny, upwind, rocky sides and peaks of mountains generated thermals through to 18:00 hrs.

Saturday Oct. 11^th

A sixteen flight wave and thermal day! A few pilots went off and explored the MacKenzie mountain range NE of Lake Placid and were rewarded with strong thermals and wave. Ian grant connected with wave directly over the Lake moved over the Whiteface mountain and climbed to 11,000 ft. As the wind died down later in the day, pilots migrated to the Sentinel Mts. to take advantage of the prevailing winds kicking off late day thermals. High level wave activity was visible in the cirrus clouds near the end of the day. A boisterous campfire party at Andrew & Brenda’s campsite finished the day off with a bang!

Sunday Oct. 12^th

Another sunny day with a more stable air mass. Weak winds would not allow for wave conditions so pilots once again resorted to thermal flying throughout the high peaks region. 15 flights with flight operations closing down at 18:00 hrs.

Monday Oct. 13^th

The surprising last day. The day remained overcast (clouds at 13,000 ft) but the lack of thermal activity and calm but steady winds set up wave conditions at Whiteface Mt. Soon the skies over Whiteface were filled with gliders on what would be considered back at Pendleton a “sled ride” day. Martin (flying the L33) even managed to capture some beautiful video of the Puchacz in wave over Whiteface. After politely reminding everyone that the Puchacz and L33 needed to be derigged and the Pawnee flown home, flight operations ended at 14:00 and the glider trailers and Pawnee

So ended the 2008 Lake Placid wave/mountain flying camp. 10 straight days of thermal, ridge and wave flying.

By the last weekend there were 10 gliders on site along with the GGC Pawnee and MSC L-19 tow plane. The Pawnee helped out the L-19 with the launch backlog on Sat. and Sunday to get anyone who wanted to fly up in the air. The Puchacz and Twin Grob (RVSS) provided yeoman service in checking out new pilots and sharing learning experiences of flying in the mountains. At one point late in the week, a glider pilot was even heard to mutter one morning, “do we have to fly again”. The great weather provided little opportunity for hiking or playing ground based tourist activities for most pilots. That being said, Andrew D. still managed to hike to the top of Algonquin Mountain, Brendra and Andrew K. took a ride down the Olympic bobsled run at Mt. Van Hovenburg while Joan and Lucile climbed Cascade Mt.

Thanks to everyone who helped and participated in making this year’s camp such a success! Special thanks to the pilots and staff of Adirondack Flying Services at Lake Placid airport for their first rate hospitality.

Roger

A 3 Dimensional GGC Weekend!

2008-09-28T16:56:00.008-05:00

Saturday 20 September was an eventful day at three different locations for GGC. Gatineau Airpark, Pendleton Aerodrome and Lake Placid, NY.

Vintage Wings Canada, Mike Potter's Flying Aviation Museum held its 'Battle of Britain', open house celebration day. The GGC Puchacz, flown by Paul and Doug was aerotowed over to Gatineau Airpark by Andrew in the Citabria. The day started an hour earlier than expected as Doug received a phone call late on Friday afternoon requesting that we arrive at Gatineau an hour earlier than planned due to the large contingent of visiting aircraft and Warbirds expected. This message arrived too late to contact the GGC participants who had already left their places of work or homes. However Doug, with the able help of new GGC member, Michael Friederick (MANY THANKS MIKE), who was having an early morning coffee on the Clubhouse verandah, opened the hangars, DI.ed the Puchacz, and got things setup on the flightline. We rudely awakened Andrew who was still asleep in his trailer, and took off enroute for Gatineau, only about 10 minutes behind schedule. We were told to orbit over the Ottawa river, about five kms short of Gatineau, for another 10 minutes, while a European Alphajet did a flyby and circuit and landing ahead of us. Then, not to be outdone, once cleared to land, we released over the airfield and did a high speed circuit and approach down the runway at about one metre height and turned onto the taxiway, clearing the active runway, so as not to hold operations, and were then pushed to our static display location. There was a lot of interest in the glider throughout the day, by several who were previous glider pilots and were contemplating the possibility of returning to the sport.

The high points of the flying displays were flybys of an assortment of WW II aircraft that included: two Spitfires, two Hurricanes, two Mustangs, a Corsair, and the Lancaster, four-engined bomber. The sounds of all those Rolls-Royce merlins were music to the ears. There were also, excellent aerobatics displays by a Pitts Special, a big 450 HP Stearman, and a three aircraft formation aerobatics team of Harvard trainers. Then the Puchacz was towed out from Gatineau at about 1500 hrs, just before the next NOTAM closed down the airfield, and was flown out by Paul and Daniel while Doug drove Dan's car back to Pendleton.

Meanwhile, south of the border, fall wave flying kicked off with an advance team from MSC, RVSS and GGC starting wave camp operations in Lake Placid. XS, AT and IAK were the first to taste Adirondack wave in 2008. Stay tuned for reports from our wave camp fly week (Oct.4th through 13th)

However, the real highlight of the day back at Pendleton, was the first solo flight in the ASK-13 by Emma Walker. Emma is only 14 and soloed after only 37 flights, a true accomplishment. CONGRATULATIONS EMMA. Emma's mother and father, Alex and Ron watched anxiously as Norm Fortin sent her off, and their pride and joy flew the nest and found that true freedom in the silent world aloft, now free from those pesky instructional comments from the back seat drivers ringing in her ears. After landing, Emma was chased around the airfield and doused with water, as is the custom, by a flock of young damsels from her Pony Club. This is only about the second time in the last decade that we have had a 14-yr. old go solo at our Club.

Doug & Roger

Photos: D. Duclos, S. Hildesheim, Doug L-L

GGC Welcomes Another Romeo!

2008-08-25T19:49:00.005-05:00

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?…Look no further than right under your nose in the Lacasse hangar at GGC!
Welcome to the newest member of the GGC fleet. On August 16th, our newest L-33 solo (C-GGHC – contest letters “Tango Romeo”) arrived at Pendleton after a long journey that originated in Pemberton BC.

Rigging was straightforward and I think you will agree that the “TR” is in very nice condition. "TR" well equipped for cross country flying with a Borgelt B50 flight computer coupled with a PDA running Winpilot.

The paint scheme is certainly eye-catching! “TR” is now rigged, airworthy and ready to go along with our other L-33, "Echo Romeo". The first flight at GGC was flown by Martin, the picture says it all…

(photos: Martin Lacasse & Dan Duclos)

Cheers,

Roger

2008 Cadet Advanced Soaring Week

2008-08-24T23:33:00.013-05:00

Flight training of young pilots and Pendleton Aerodrome. A tradition since 1942 when it all began as #10 Elementary Flight Training School (EFTS)! (check out the MayFly section of our website for an interesting historical photo).

The week of August 18-22 saw GGC host the 4^th annual Royal Canadian Air Cadet advanced soaring fly week for the top cadet from each of the 5 regional gliding schools across Canada. Two cadet 2-33s where also flown into Pendleton the previous week to allow the cadet to solo fly aircraft that they are familiar with between advanced soaring instructional flights with GGC members in GGC 2-seat aircraft.

On average, 20 to 40 flights where flown daily by the cadets and GGC instructors throughout the very hot and dry week. Cadets where given instructional/familiarization flights in thermalling, cross-country flying and glider aerobatics. Evening lectures covered FAI badge flying/requirements and introductions to effective thermalling techniques, speed to fly and a dose of cross country theory with plenty SeeYou flight file analysis.

The enthusiasm and skill of these young pilots combined with the leadership/professionalism of their DND officers coupled the volunteer efforts of GGC instructors, tow pilots and members help to make this event a marquee event of cadet/civilian gliding cooperation in Canada. GGC is proud to support this training event again in 2008 and extends a proud “Bravo Zulu” to this year’s 5 top cadet glider pilots.

Cheers,

Roger

2008 Eastern SAC Instructor Course

2008-08-24T22:49:00.002-05:00

In spite of a very pessimistic weather forecast, GGC hosted the 2008 Soaring Association of Canada (SAC) eastern instructor course Aug. 4-8. Three candidates from three eastern Canadian clubs where put through their paces by course director (or was that “Oberfeldwabel”) Richard Sawyer. Flexibility was the key in timing the flying and classroom lectures and in the end all candidates managed to get the necessary flying exercise completed between the daily mid-afternoon “monsoons”. All candidates agreed that they had learned a lot about the art and technique of instructing and were very appreciative of Richard’s teaching style.

Well done Richard!

Cheers,
Roger

A Different Perspective

2008-08-24T22:25:00.008-05:00

I took my 6 yr old for her first glider ride on Sunday. Here's the picture she drew later, showing the relative importance of things to her - the people are quite large and that little towplane thingie barely registers!

Cheers,

Mark E.
(editors note: Mark is an accomplished tow pilot and gliding instructor who is now torn as to what his daughter really thinks he flies best!)

Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing Baby!

2008-08-24T22:02:00.011-05:00

It was the second day (July 2nd) of the cross-country seminar held by Ian Grant at the GGC. The Freedoms Wings Twin Astir had been flown to the Aviation Museum for Canada Day and the Puchacz was used as a replacement for Freedom Wings operations. To progress toward my bronze badge, Ian suggested I try to complete a two-hour flight in Echo Romeo, one of our L-33 Solos. On the next day, I would carry out the off-field landing exercises with him in the Puchacz.

Around 11 o’clock, the little Cu’s forming above Rockland looked pretty appealing, the sun was shining and the sky was blue, which in itself was a reason to celebrate given all the rain we had in June.

As I was being towed, my mind wandered and I imagined Rosie Vella and Jeff Lynne singing “Mr. Blue Sky”: “It’s stopped rainin’, ev’rybody’s in a play and don’t you know, it’s a beautiful new day hey, hey”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Ncxw1xfck&feature=related

With Rosie’s voice in the back of my mind, I admired the scenery and did not pay attention to the distance covered on the ground and the large expanse of forest separating me from the field. More than seven kilometers away from the threshold of runway 26, as I reached cloud base, I decided to cut the umbilical cord at 2,000 feet, under an irresistible little puffy cloud.

This turned out to be a case of premature release but I was in the same frame of mind as Pepé Le Pew, not realizing that I was about to engage in a game where my ardor would only meet strong resistance. But as Pepé would say, getting there is half the fun and, besides, a true gentleman must be prepared for anything!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLrF-IwF2hk

Well, anything but lift. It seemed that my presence in that sector had the effect of repelling every thermal I would try to sniff. My heart was sinking as quickly as Echo Romeo, with no Juliet in sight. As I circled for lift, I quickly glanced at the airfield and realized I was in trouble.

So, I headed south over the long series of farmers’ fields, pleading with Mother Nature for some lift and thinking about another Jeff Lynne’s famous song, used by NASA as the wake-up call song for space shuttle astronauts:

Don’t bring me down, Gruß!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF_67S-IRgw

Well, Mother Nature was not receptive either. My trajectory resembled a lawn dart’s and like an astronaut, I was about to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere. The only thing left to do was to choose the site of my retrieval. I selected the closest field to runway 08, landing parallel to the road hoping to stop close to a culvert as the ditch was deep and full of water.

The next song that came to my mind was: Hold on tight!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TLmpL2AzLs

The touch down happened very quickly and felt like Mother Nature had kicked me in the backside. However, as I opened the canopy, a gentle breeze caressed my face. As Pepé would say, stop resisting me! Ian still had me pass the off-field landind test the next day but why fake it when you can experience the real thing?

Once on my feet, I transmitted my position to Norm, my tow pilot, and was soon greeted by a retrieving crew “extraordinaire”, composed of nothing less than the wife and daughter of our President, as well as Wolfgang and Jimmy, the only other student attending the seminar. The most charming half of the crew was immediately sent on a diplomatic mission to the farmer’s house and everything went smoothly from that point on.

As soon as we returned to the Club, I learned that Karl had “discovered” yet another great landing field near Cassleman and I teamed up with Ron Smith for another retrieve.

On that memorable Canada Day, I not only experienced my first landing out but also acquired lots of experience derigging and rigging Club ships. As I left the field, looking at the sunset, I consoled myself thinking that even the sun lands out at the end of each day!

Your Reporterus Maximus,

J. Marc

GGC/Freedoms Wings Canada Fly Week

2008-08-24T21:26:00.004-05:00

The week of July 1-7 saw GGC once again hosting the Freedoms Wings Canada (FWC) Twin Astir glider in conjunction with a club fly week. GGC even had a special guest on the first day of the week. Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau was on site to check out the FWC activities and even go for a glider flight himself (with Doug in back) using the hand controls of the FWC twin. (photo: D. Duclos).

Flight activity averaged approximately 28 flights daily. Mike Clarke, Canada's first paraplegic glider pilot, was also up to visit and take a couple flights at our airfield. Mike assists with the running of FWC at York Soaring (near Toronto) and is a very capable glider pilot using the hand controls. Those of us in the GGC that have tried flying with hand controls will attest to the mental skill required, and to the extreme value that is suddenly applied to "flying the yaw string", and hence the glider.

Kyle McKeown and his mother Colleen were also up visiting from York Soaring to help out throughout the week. 16 year old Kyle glides with York and they camped out in our recently cleaned carpenter shop for the duration of the week. THANKS KYLE and COLLEEN.

July 7 marked the end of the GGC/FWC Fly-Week with a hot, humid sunny day. Then in the heat of the afternoon, a stalwart group of GGC members laboured over the dis-assembling of the FWC Twin Astir, and putting it into the trailer for the return trip to York Soaring. GGC will be significantly expanding it’s role in the FWC flying program in 2009. Stay tuned for more news and details later this year.

IT WAS A GREAT FLY-WEEK and THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED.

Doug L-L

2008 Edition - GGC Lobster Party

2008-07-29T20:32:00.004-05:00

Once again we hosted our annual lobster party. As you can see, the kids were getting right into the festivities while the "grown-ups" looked after the cooking and spraying the cooking fires to keep the pots from boiling over.

Well, and the "grown-ups" also found that spraying each other would also help keep themselves cool...even though glider pilots don't need water to be cool...

Cheers,

Roger

New Solo & Back to Basics

2008-06-17T19:43:00.006-05:00

Saturday 14 June didn't look like a promising day with overcast leaden skies and haze and mist around the horizon but Denis, a Boeing 747 Flight Engineer, and owner of a Cessna 172, was 'put through the wringer' by Doug and set free for 25 minute solo flight.

Not content with one major event for the day, Doug then had the pleasure of a couple of flights, as ballast and safety pilot, with our former GGC President, statesman, and general club maestro, Ray, who after his recent year's experience flying his Ultralight, hasn't forgotten a thing about flying without a motor.

Special thanks to Mark for the tows.

Cheers,

Doug L-L

GGC at Vintage Wings

2008-06-16T20:35:00.004-05:00

Early on June 7th, an intrepid group of GGC pilots launched from Pendleton to participate in the 2008 edition of the Vintage Wings fun day at Gatineau airport. Andrew, Doug and Martin gave visitors the grand tour of the Puchacz and explained the virtues of our “environmentally friendly” sport.

After a long day in the sun (and +30 degree C temperatures), QIH (our trusty Citabria) pulled our aviators back to Pendleton for a well deserved refreshment (or two!). Thanks to everyone who helped make our display such a success!

Cheers,

Roger
(Photos J.M Gagnon)

Clubhouse Exterior TBO - 17 Years

2008-06-02T20:13:00.003-05:00

The exterior of our clubhouse has been the focus of some intense TLC over the last few weeks as it was time to sand and re-stain the exterior wood after 17 years of Eastern Ontario winters. The first wave of sanding lead by Greg and Brenda got things ready two weeks ago.

After looking at a less than pleasant weekend weather forecast, Dan put the staining bug in everyone’s ear and by Saturday Martin had gathered the work materials and volunteers started showing up. By the end of the day Sunday, work was well underway with most of the front and back of the clubhouse being completed.

We are still a few weekends away from completing so stay tuned for pictures later this season of the finished product.
Thanks to everyone who pitched in.

Cheers,

Roger

(Photos: Dan Duclos)

There is no Shame in Landing Out - MayFly 2008

2008-05-27T20:48:00.007-05:00

This was the phrase chanted by all pilots at every daily briefing of the GGC MayFly contest. 11 pilots from three local gliding clubs (and of course GGC) flew in the 10th anniversary edition of MayFly.

Three flying days out of a 4 day contest! Listening to the weather forecast on the Thursday before the May long weekend contest you would have thought that we would have been rained out. However, glider pilot enthusiasm and careful launch timing allowed us to fly for three days.

The top three pilots:
#1 Tim Forbes (RVSS)
#2 Team Jantar (GGC Remi & Karl)
#3 Udo Rumpf

Flights were reviewed every night and a do it yourself grill was the order of the day for Saturday evening.

The pictures say it all...

Mid-Week Flying Underway for 2008

2008-04-24T20:40:00.009-05:00

Mid-week flying at GGC is back in full form for 2008.
Today saw three more GGC pilots receiving their annual check flights. By early afternoon, thermals were producing average climb rates of 6 kts.

Doug, Remi and Karl each managed 3 hour flights topping out at over 7000 ft. Smiles were the order of the day (pictures don’t lie). Spring flying at it’s best! We even managed to get the Jantar rigged and ready to go.

Quite an impressive flying day…and it’s only April!

Cheers,
Roger

2008 Flying Season is Underway!

2008-04-21T20:54:00.011-05:00

The Boudrealt hangar was emptied on Saturday and tow pilot checkouts were started by Wolfgang. Both the Pawnee and Citabria ready to go.
The Puchacz and both L33s were also rigged and they are ready to go. Only the Jantar is left to rig as the ASK-13 stayed rigged during the winter.

Annual glider pilot checkouts started on Sunday using both the ASK-13 and Puchacz.

As you can see the weather was great (+25C) but it was a study of contrasts as much of the campground and steps to the clubhouse were still under a foot of snow. As you can see, the snow did not keep Doug from arriving at the hangar dressed for the summer.

Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday for the unpacking and rigging.

Tow Anyone?

2008-02-10T12:22:00.000-05:00

Although the snow pack has effectively grounded our fleet of wheeled gliders and tow planes, it hasn’t kept our intrepid tow pilots from outfitting their own aircraft for winter operations.
Martin, Glenn and Tommy were out to get the Stinson warmed up and over to annual winter fly-in at Chateau Montebello on January 26th. This event attracts a large number of mostly ultralight aircraft using the frozen Ottawa river as a runway. As you can see from the pictures, weather (and pilot) conditions were superb.

By the way, the folks at the Blanik factory had winter all figured out when they designed the L-13. Click on the link below to see what a few glider pilots at the Post Mills Soaring Club (Vermont) did to fight the winter blues…

http://www.flypmsc.org/Goose_pond.htm

Cheers,

Roger

Weekend #2 – Lake Placid Wave Camp

2007-10-19T15:07:00.000-05:00

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

2007-10-09T18:22:00.000-05:00

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

GGC Arrives at Lake Placid – It’s Official

2007-10-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

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!

2007-09-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

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

2007-08-01T19:39:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

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

2007-06-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-06-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

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

2007-06-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-28T22:31:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

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!

MayFly 2007 - Epilogue

2007-05-23T21:21:00.000-05:00

MayFly 2007 is over but the memories will last for quite a while…
We flew 3 of 4 days with task times of 2.5, 3.0 and 3.0 hours respectively with three landouts and no incidents. Total XC distance covered during the three contest days by 11 competitors was 3729.8 km

Everyone involved should be proud of what was accomplished. Airmanship and safety were first rate and many pilots new to XC flying got a chance to see what really leaving the nest feels like in a friendly competitive environment. The morning pilot meetings were brief and concise and our “fill the launch grid as you arrive” philosophy worked like a charm. Special thanks to our tow pilots (Wolfgang, Norm and Ron) and our flight line crew for their work in getting everyone airborne quickly. We had 11 launches in 35 minutes on Saturday and 10 launches in 32 minutes on Monday.

Our CFI took the opportunity to fly with a different non-XC rated pilot along on each of the three days in the mighty Puchacz. I’m sure that Terry, Jean-Marc and Alan all learned a lot. Ask these guys about why there are so many sweat stains on the Puchacz “prayer wheel” (glider calculator)! The Puchacz has never flown over Maxville as high (7200 ft on Monday) or as low (1100 ft on Saturday).

Evening entertainment consisted of multiple installments of “so there I was” stories around the fireplace and various videos about aviation and reviewing the flights of day as recorded by Nick & Frank’s tracker system. This system has evolved over the years to the stage where flights can be tracked up to 120 km away. The system utilizes a small black box (mounted on the canopy of the glider) which contains a GPS and uses an integrated low power data burst transmitter to send 3 dimensional position data to a receiver for display on a computer back in the Boudreault hangar. The system was surprisingly accurate and even helped crew locate the position of where pilots had landed out before they called in their location.

In the end, the top three pilots were:

1) Nick Bonniere
2) Ulli Werneburg & Remi Knoerr (tied for 2nd place)

Complete results can be found on the MayFly section of the GGC website.

Additional thank-you to:

-Ted for being our resident weatherman
-Everyone who helped with ground operations
-Martin for ensuring that both towplanes were available
-Christine for providing the “voice of GGC” on the radio and controlling the start gate.
-Nick for getting the 2007 version of the scoring program up and running
-Sonia for handling the registration paperwork
-Lucile for providing the salads and desserts for the barbeque dinner on Saturday evening.
-and of course, Ulli for being our contest director and coordinating our trophies.

So there you have it. Flying, friends and learning…it doesn’t get any better than this. Start planning now to attend in 2008.

Around the Club

David has started filling the pool so with some warm weather we should be splashing around in about a week.
Greg has been busy getting the tractor and mower ready for the summer cutting season.

See you at the aerodrome,
Roger

(photos: Dan Daly)

Surfing in May, Riding the GGC Kahuna!

2007-05-14T21:57:00.000-05:00

This past weekend gave us some the best May soaring conditions ever in eastern Ontario with blustery north winds on Sunday.
Many pilots had enjoyable thermalling flights including Nick who managed to pull off the first 500km flight in eastern Ontario this season. However something really unusual happened in the Pendleton area on Sunday.
After climbing up to about 6500 ft in a thermal just south of St. Isadore, the things became very smooth, wave soaring smooth. I nosed AT into the wind and was rewarded with a 3 to 4 kt climb to 9700 ft. My measured wind speed jumped from 18 kts. at 6500 ft. to over 40 kts. at 7500 ft and 47 kts. at 9700 ft. Tim Tuck connected with something similar slightly NE of Casselman and climbed to 10,400 ft! Normally wave sets up in the downwash of the Gatineau hills around the Ottawa River when we have strong north winds. Over the years many club pilots have reported climbs to over 10,000 ft. near the river. This was unusual in that both Tim and I were well south of the river but interestingly enough, downwind of the Alfred bog and LaRose forest. My only explanation is that the thermals over the Alfred bog and LaRose forest were so strong as to kick the higher speed upper air mass into a wave pattern. There were definite primary, secondary and tertiary waves (and rotor) with a relatively short wavelength (2 to 4 km).
Both Tim and I pushed up into the Gatineau hills later in the day to see if there was something bigger but the wind (rotor?) was chewing up the thermals that we needed to climb up to the “good air”.
Just goes to show you that there is always something new to discover in your own back yard.
Surf’s up!

Busy 2 Weeks

2007-05-08T20:52:00.000-05:00

It’s been a busy couple of weeks!
Weekend and mid-week flying over the last 10 days and a well attended ground school student barbeque and spring operations safety briefing on April 28th have kept operations busy at GGC.
Last weekend provided great (although windy) flying conditions on Saturday and another nice day on Sunday. Mid-week flying has become a well attended and regular event. Ulli summarizes a recent flight experience below:

Hello Everyone:

It looks like the customary nice May flying has returned, at least for the past weekend. Let's hope it keeps going for the Interclub contest next Saturday and MayFly the following weekend.

At times, the lift on Saturday was outstanding, particularly in the hills later in the day in the direction of Mt. Tremblant where we finally connected with cumulus with 9,000'+ cloudbases.

However, for me the highlight of the day came a little earlier, near the Ottawa river when I spotted a pair of red tailed hawks circling a little higher than I was. Normally, this results in the hawks quickly disappearing out of sight as they core the thermal and climb away. However, in this case I was able to keep up with them and even gain a little. This seemed strange to me but I soon realized why. As I got closer to one, maybe 50 ft away, it looked at me and gave me a very clear view of his/her talons just to make sure I knew who was boss here in their domain! What a scene, a 4 ft wing span hawk threatening a 50ft wing span glider! I actually felt honoured to be accepted in their world, even as a potential enemy. I realized again what a special sport gliding is. In what other part of aviation could this kind of thing happen?

All the best,
Ulli

Magic Moments

2007-04-22T19:36:00.000-05:00

Mother nature provided us great weather last week and weekend. We took advantage of it with 8 flights on Thursday, 28 flights on Saturday and another 14 on Sunday. With three weekends of flying under already under our belt this month, many members (almost all instructors) have had their annual checkout and are ready for the 2007 season.
The following description and photos from Jean-Marc Gagnon say it all...

Imagine this for a moment : you show up at GGC for your spring check out and one of the instructor asks you to give him a hand in towing the Puchacz to the flight line. The sailplane is immaculate, freshly washed up by the instructor himself. He then offers you a ride and a check out by the same token.

It is supposed to be a spring day but it feels like the middle of summer. A fresh breeze hits your face, the sun is high in the sky, you feel like this majestic falcon who did a cross leg over runway 26.

You take off behind the Pawnee, as if you were catapulted over the deck of an aircraft carrier and you have got to box this wake before 3,000 feet.

Once you are done with your spring check up, the instructor offers you a demonstration of sailplane acrobatics: three loops in a row and four wing over! You feel so lucky you did not eat what was in your lunch box after all.
Once on the ground, you get the stamp of approval in your log book, upside down! The instructor realizes his mistake, you laugh and tell him this is going to be a great “souvenir” of your first experience running in circles, upside down for a change.

Thanks for the memories, Wolfgang! There is never a dull moment with you!
Jean-Marc

GGC Fleet is Ready!

2007-04-16T19:10:00.000-05:00

The GGC fleet is ready to go! (only the Blanik is left to be rigged/inspected)
In spite of a rather bleak forecast, a lot of spring chores were enthusiastically completed by those who came out this past weekend.

Activities included:
Both L33s and the Jantar were rigged, inspected and are ready to fly.
The rudder pedal A/D on the Puchacz was completed and it is also ready to fly.
The cockpit of ASK-13 was cleaned/tidied up.
Runway 31/13 was rolled with our custom made “groundhog crusher”
On-board paperwork was updated (including updated insurance certificates) for each aircraft.
A few more winter storage items were picked up.

After the work, gliders were pulled out and Tim and Greg (with Martin towing) even managed to get a couple of flights in before the end of the day Saturday. By all accounts it was a very productive couple of days. A special thank-you goes out to everyone who helped out this past weekend.

On another note, Mayfly 2007 is just around the corner (May 18th-21st). This fun contest is a great low stress way to see what XC flying and contests are all about. Book your favourite single or multiplace glider and get familiar with the club Colibri data recorders. Let’s hope the sun comes out for next weekend!

GGC Did Not See Its Shadow Saturday

2007-04-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

Saturday march 31 was quite a day! The hangars were emptied by 11:00 and we started tow and glider pilot checkouts at noon. 18 flights later we called it a day!

A few pictures of spring at GGC.
Hangar in the morning:

Hangar content in the afternoon.

Sun power at work.

Watch your head, the Citabria is back...

The Canada geese too...

While the hangar was being unpacked on Saturday, your Membership Director was trying to drum up membership at the Ottawa Flying Club, from the wellspring of Power Pilots. The GGC had an informative billboard, illustrated with posters, and a continuous TV presentation of some gliding films. Ulli Weneberg had his beautiful ASW-24 prominently displayed outside the OFC Clubhouse, in full view of everyone entering. It was also an excellent venue for chatting with our RVSS colleagues as well.

Jean Marc Gagnon & Doug Laurie-Lean

Welcome to Our Blog!

2007-03-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

Visit this page regularly to see pictures and articles about events at GGC throughout the 2007 season.