Previous News
K6 Purchase
Harnett County 2009
Guest Member Visit
John
Hawkins
The Wendlands
July Meeting
All In The Family
April `09 Soaring
Club Status
March Club Meeting
Windy March Soaring
Club Logo
New Panel
Cart Girls
October 4th Soaring
Scott's Monnett Monerai Flies
David Manning Solos
Club Name Chosen
Freddie Wendland's US Solo
Soaring pictures from 07/23/2008
Weekend
First Pictures from 07/12/2008
First Club Meeting on
06/21/2008
The Club is Now the Proud Owner
of a Schleicher Ka6-CR
Sunday afternoon, October 8th, Rick,
Frank, Gitta and Freddie drove to Harnett County to
complete the purchase of our club K6 (N7516U). We met Mr. Henshaw
at the airport around 15:30 and proceeded to hook the
trailer up to the Durango. After spending some time trying
to diagnose a trailer tail light issue we decided to drive
back without lights. We drove up to the FBO to finish up
the paperwork and then hit the road.
We had good weather
the following Sunday and were able to fly both the K6 &
K7.
Click
HERE for more pics.
Harnette County Soaring Event
On the
weekend of September 12th 2009 the
North
Carolina Soaring Association put on their annual
event. David, Freddie, Frank, Calvin and Rick made the trip.
We had a great time! We helped tow the field up both days
with the Super Cub. We also took the K7 over via trailer.
Freddie and Frank flew the task Saturday. The task was
HRJ -
JNX -
5W5 -
HRJ. They completed the task in two hours and 35
minutes. All contestants released at 2,000'. Out of eight
gliders there were four land outs and one that returned
without completing the task.
After the task Rick and David each took the K7 up for a
flight. Rick and Calvin also managed to get a check out in
NCSA Blanik L13 before the day was out. After getting
checked into a hotel Rick, Freddie and Frank enjoyed a
great meal at the steak house with the NCSA gang. Calvin
and David flew back to Farmville so they missed out.
Calvin and Frank flew Sunday's task of
HRJ - Old Sanford -
HRJ -
78NC -
HRJ. They completed the task in 3 hours and 10
minutes. Yes, that's 3:10 in the same ship we sometimes
get 0:15 or less from.
Click
HERE for more pictures
Guest Member Visit
Sunday July 26th brought the club it's first guest
member. Robert Fowler towed his Cirrus over, in the
trailer, from the Harnett County club. Our small Sunday
group enjoyed helping Roger assemble his glass ship.
Weather cut our day short but the ships were all tucked
away before the bottom fell out.
Out came the fuselage followed by the left wing as David & Bill looked on.
Calvin gives the assist on the left wing.
Roger secures the left wing.
The Cirrus ready for a tow.
Out came the fuselage followed by the left wing as David & Bill looked on.
New Member Soars
New member John Hawkins joined the club this summer.
John holds a commercial power license and a private glider
rating. Below are some pictures of John getting current
with club instructor Frank Wendland in the K7.
Bill Kings shows us his best side while attaching the tow cable. :^)
John gives Bill the thumbs up to lift the wing.
John crosses the fence on short final with spoilers partially extended.
Bill Kings shows us his best side while attaching the tow cable. :^)
The Wendlands
Frank
and daughter Sarah Wendland having fun with their Schleicher Ka7. Our
club was created because of the very generous Wendlands.
They imported their glider from back home in Germany and
offered it up for club use.
July Club Meeting
On Saturday July 25th, 2009 after a good day of soaring
and threats of bad weather we had a nice meal and business
meeting. It was a small group due to Oshkosh travelers and
other commitments but we had enough present to eat well
and hold the meeting.
Chefs Bill King and David Manning cook up the meal.
Photo by Rick Jones
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All In the Family
Here are some May pictures of the Wendland family doing
everything but the towing.
Student glider pilot Sarah Windland and glider instructor Dad (Frank) wait as the tow plane roles forward to tighten the tow rope.
Sarah's Mom Gitta, signals the tow plane to stop rolling (the tow line is taunt).
Mom signals the tow plane to go using a big sweeping circular arm motion.
Sarah holds the glider down in good position while she waits for the tow plane to lift off.
Sarah on final for runway 21.
Sarah preparing for the flair.
Sarah's younger brother, student pilot Freddie and instructor (Dad) on short final.
Student glider pilot Sarah Windland and glider instructor Dad (Frank) wait as the tow plane roles forward to tighten the tow rope.
April Soaring Video
Tim captured some nice video of the K7 being towed. He
videoed from the back seat of the Super Cub. Calvin worked
his magic to split up the video in manageable chunks. The
string of clips can be viewed on
YouTube
with the following links or you can search on "East
Carolina Soaring Club".
Ka7 Soaring #3 040409
Ka7 Soaring #4 040409
Ka7 Soaring #5 040409
Ka7 Soaring #6 040409
Ka7 Soaring #7 040409
April Soaring Pics
April brought us a spring break visitor from Germany.
Lorenz was visiting the Wendlands for a few weeks during
his high school spring break. He got the chance to
experience the joy of soaring and the fun times had by all
on the field. We wish him luck with his drivers education
on the autobahn. Below are a few pictures taken on
4/5/2009.
Hilton and the Super Cub take a short hop before everything is ready to fly.
Scott Crippen on the tow.
Scott takes the K7 through the slot in great position behind the tow plane.
Hilton returns with the tow plane.
Lorenz explains the meaning of life to Freddie while waiting in the golf cart. :^) Everyone else enjoys the shade.
Scott Crippen crosses the fence.
Scott Crippen & Frank landing the K7.
Calvin Mayo landing on 21.
Lorenz tows the K7 back to the starting line.
Hilton and the Super Cub take a short hop before everything is ready to fly.
East Carolina Soaring Club Status
Vice President Frank Wendland submitted the required
documents for the club to incorporate. The process is now
complete including acquiring an EIN number. You'll notice
I've added the "Inc." to our name in the web page footer
below. As Secretary/Treasurer, I'm in the process of
setting up a club checking account with Wachovia. I've
also spoken with Rhonda Copeland at SSA (Soaring Society
of America) headquarters about our club becoming a chapter
of the SSA.
She was very helpful in explaining the benefits of
becoming a chapter. Rhonda sent me all the supporting
documents and forms so we can discuss it at our next
meeting.
March Club Meeting
It was a cold damp night that kept many from coming out
for the meeting.
I
hope that's what did it and not David's cooking. :-)
There were eight East Carolina Soaring Club members
present. The meeting was started with Frank's presentation
about creating a formal SSA club including incorporating.
It was decided that we would do so and the first
requirement was selecting three officers. There were three
volunteers. David Manning - President, Frank Wendland -
Vice President and Rick Jones - Secretary/Treasurer. The
minutes for this meeting can be found on the
Members Hangar
page.
The new officers will move forward with additional research
and present the plans at our next gathering.
Windy March Soaring
by Rick Jones
The first weekend of March `09 came in with a blast.
The winds were favoring runway 21 providing a stiff right
quartering head wind both days. The first tow was at 11:25
Saturday morning.
The
second was at 3:30. There's a story here and it wasn't
just a long lunch.
At the end of the first tow, during the roll out, the
Super Cub went full throttle. That gave this tow pilot his
first in flight emergency. With a notch of flaps and the
tail still up the Super Cub went flying again. I declared
an emergency and flew the pattern at full throttle. There
was no lift so David and the Ka7 were already nearing the
downwind leg. I was at 3,000' before I could shut down the
engine and bring her home dead stick. The spiral down to
landing was uneventful. I have to credit the glider
rating for that.
The cause? A throttle cable brace broke allowing the
cable to sag and push the throttle full open. We took a
long lunch break while Calvin and Hilton flew the part to
Kinston in the Hatz for repair. After lunch and repairs
the flying resumed. We still managed nine tows each day.
Sarah Wendland made her first US solo flight early Sunday.
We were short handed to start with so I didn't get a
picture.
Me and David have new digital SLR cameras so expect
sharper pics starting now. Click here for a few shots from
the weekend.
Club Logo Suggestion
Calvin
Mayo has been hard at work developing a logo for our
soaring club. This is his latest version. It's looking
very good. We can get everybody's input the next time we
get together or you can just flame away now via e-mail.
:-)
The logo is something we can use in the
future for silk screened t-shirts. It could be applied
much like on our EAA Chapter 960 t-shirts (small logo on
the left chest and large across the back).
Many thanks to Calvin for taking on this
task.
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New Instrument Panel for the Ka7
Frank
purchased an electronic variometer for the K7. Over the
holidays Frank, Freddie and Calvin removed the old panel
from the glider and designed a new one.
Calvin traced the old panel on a CMM (coordinate
measuring machine) machine and then
loaded the data into CAD. He was then able to create the
new design on the computer. The new design has holes for
the electronic vario at the bottom and two
electric vario
indicators top right and left. He also added a master
power switch in the center above the altimeter.
The new design was then loaded into a CNC mill and the
new panel was cut from aluminum plate. Calvin also cut the
N number into the panel above the radio. The panel was
painted black and the N number white. It looks GREAT!
Calvin has been a very busy boy over the holidays. Be sure
to thank him for his efforts.
What's Soaring Without Some
Pretty Cart Girls
The weather kept us grounded Saturday but Sunday November
9th 2008 was good. The lift was almost no where to be
found so most flights were of the ten minute variety. With
the short flights and both the K7 and Monarai flying we
ended up with four-teen tows. That's not bad considering
the days are shorter and we assembled and disassembled both
gliders. The highlight of the day was having two pretty
young girls staging the tow rope and towing the gliders
into position.
Click here for some flying
photos.
October 4, 2008 Soaring
Check out the photo
slideshow from this weekend's soaring.
Monnett Monerai Flies Again
Club
member Scott Crippen purchased a Monnett Monerai P single
place power glider a few weeks ago. After much research
and inspection it was time to fly.
They decided to make the first flights as a pure glider
without the engine pod installed. On Saturday 10/04/08
CFI-G Frank Wendland took her up for the first two flights
behind the Super Cub. As tow pilot I could hardly tell the
little glider was back there. I had to watch the mirror to
confirm the release.
The picture to the left shows Frank crossing the fence
with flaps at 90 dgrees. This was the landing on flight
number two.
Scott took the controls on
flight number three.
Rick
Another Club Solo
Sunday
afternoon (10/05/08) yielded another club solo flight.
Private pilot David Manning soloed the K7 after a
simulated rope break. The simulated rope break involves
the instructor pulling the tow rope release just above
200' AGL (Above Ground Level). The student must respond
quickly with a 180 degree turn back to the field and land
downwind on the runway he/she just departed.
The photo to the right shows David crossing the fence in
the K7 with spoilers extended.
Club Name Chosen
Our little soaring club now has a name
(East Carolina Soaring). The eastcarolinasoaring.org
domain name was registered and this site was published on
10/01/08.
Soaring Over Farmville
It
was a great weekend for soaring (8/24/08). It was a very eventful
weekend with 14 year old Freddie Wendland getting his
first solo flight in the USA. Freddie soloed a k13 in
Germany a few weeks ago. A MUCH older, glider
rated, Scott Crippen performed his first Ka7 solo flight
Sunday after noon. We now have three club members checked
out to solo the Ka7. Calvin Mayo managed to stay up
Saturday afternoon for 1 hour and 7 minutes. Way to go
Calvin! Calvin is a private pilot working on his glider
rating. There were also a few low altitude (200'-300')
simulated rope breaks on Saturday. That will get your
heart pumping. :o)
I was able to catch the lucky tow Sunday afternoon. Tow
pilot Monty Clark dropped me off near a nice thermal at
450 meters AGL (1,500'). I was able to take it up to the
cloud base at 1,600 meters (5,248'). Frank says that's the
highest his German glider has been over the USA so far. I
already had a long ride last weekend so once I hit the
clouds I started down so somebody else could go. She
didn't want to leave so I did a few stalls and wing overs.
Then I applied full spoilers at 100 kph to bring her down.
I was up for 42 minutes.
We need to discuss a name for the club. I've been calling
it Farmville Soaring but David Manning suggested "Down
East Soaring". Once we nail that down I'll see about
registering a domain name.
There will be flying again this Saturday (August 30th
10:00 - 6:00) and Sunday (1:00 - 6:00) so ya'll come on
out and see what it's all about.
Rick
Soaring on 08/23/2008 Weekend
Freddie Wendland in the K7 with, CFIG (Certified Flight Instructor Glider), dad.
Getting the tow up to 457 meters (1,500') behind the PA18-180 Super Cub.
A shot back toward Greenville from about 5,000'. A very clear day for August in Eastern North Carolina.
Coming down from 1,600 meters (5,248').
On the way down from 1,600 meters. The Variometer shows -1 meters/second and the altimeter is unwinding now at 1,450 meters.
Freddie Wendland in the K7 with, CFIG (Certified Flight Instructor Glider), dad.
First Pictures from 07/12/2008
Schleicher K7 on the trailer.
Attaching the right wing.
Hooking up the controls. All that's missing is the horizontal stab/elevator and canopy.
Hard to get rid of that sailplane grin.
Hilton preps for first K7 flight.
Brian preps for first K7 flight.
David Stow's first K7 landing.
Calvin preps for his first ever sailplane flight.
David Manning and Frank on short final.
A shot of Flanagan Field from 750 meters.
K7 under tow behind the Super Cub.
The K7 panel from 750 meters. The speed got a little high during the photo (almost 100 kilometers). The variometer is showing positive lift. It would have been higher if I was paying attention to the speed instead of taking the picture. :o)
Photo by Rick Jones
Schleicher K7 on the trailer.
