ped 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.
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
Sat. Oct. 4th
The Puchacz and L33 were trailered to 
) and Paul (in the Pawnee) arrived around
Sunday Oct. 5th
Flight operations were underway by
Monday Oct. 6th
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
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
Wednesday Oct. 8th
Another wave day! The calm winds of the morning changed by
Thursday Oct. 9th
The day started and remained sunny but with much stronger winds (10 kts with gusts to 2
0 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. 10th
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
Saturday Oct. 11th
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
Sunday Oct. 12th
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 
Monday Oct. 13th
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
So ended the 2008
By the last weekend there were 10 gliders on site along with the GGC Pawnee an
d 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
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
Roger
ing 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.
ment. 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.
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 4th annual Royal Canadian Air Cadet advanced soaring fly week for the top cadet from each of the 5 regional gliding schools across
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 skil
l 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
Cheers,
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!
Roger
