Greetings from the President

By John Arrison

Congratulation to Tom Lanning the newest member of the beach club and the current leader in the XC contest. The last member to be added to the beach club was Jeff Bernard and that was way back in 1998, if my memory is correct.  I suspect we will see several new members in the near future with some new guys starting go long.

There has been some discussion about the club trying to purchase Jacobs house in W. Rutland.  After discussion with the other club officers it was decided purchasing Jake's house would serve very little purpose and would tie up our money.

Along the same lines it is time to plan for the long term future at Rutland.  I have some ideas that I would like to discuss at the July meeting and would like other peoples input.  Please try to attend.

Thanks go to Gary and the others who helped at the foot race at Ascutney June 22nd.  Believe it or not the State park people do notice and this goes a long way for good relations.  There is a bicycle race July 20th and a crew will be needed to assist then also.

I walked the Ascutney launch trail with Rick White the forester for F&P.  We reviewed possible trial improvements and some tree removal.  Rick had no problem with the work we proposed, some of which was already complete.  He checked with the act 250 people and the work was determined to be "maintenance" and therefore does not require any permit.  The next step is to review any additional work with the Town of West Windsor forest committee.  The State only owns to about 200 yards from the first left turn off the main trail the rest is the Town's.

Rick also took the time to walk out to the south launch so do not forget big brother is watching!

That's it for now see you in the air.

The Beach Club Newest Member

By Tom Lanning

I awoke in the back of my truck to the sound of light rain. It was not the typical start to a good flying day. Although the national weather service was optimistically calling for clearing by mid-day, by mid-morning some of the pilots congregated in the Morningside parking lot were already heading home. Just a few minutes after Pete (Judge) left, the clouds started dissipating and within the hour the sky was completely blue. Dan (MacManagle) called Greg (Hanlon), who left about an hour earlier, and taunted him with the changed conditions. With Sue’s blessing, Greg, Sue, and Sawyer turned around in Keene and headed back towards Ascutney. Aric (Paulson), Dan, Greg, and I met them at the base of Ascutney, tossed everything on the big van and headed up. Jeff (Benard) and Jake soon joined us on our hike to launch.

Although we battled black flies, soggy ground, and a brisk westerly crosswind on launch we were soon airborne and soaring nicely in the WNW wind that I measured at 25 mph at 4000 feet. Since it was windy, we all hung around at the mountain for a short time trying to step up before leaving. While we were still there Tim (Hoopes) arrived in the parking lot and wanted to know what the launch conditions were like. Apparently Tim didn’t like the answers, since he decided to head back down after updating us on the current conditions on the deck.

When our thermal ride finally arrived, Jake and I committed to leaving early. Jake left about 500 feet below me and went on glide toward the southeast. I stayed with the thermal for a broken bronco ride upward. Jake’s course was not so kind and he was soon fighting a losing battle just across the river. I drifted southeast over town and started delaying in sporadic lift waiting for the others to join me. They took a more easterly crosswind track towards Green Mountain and I decided to plow upwind to join them. I lost precious altitude on the trip and watched Jeff and Greg cruised on by overhead while Aric, Dan, and I were left sniffing around Green Mountain for something to dig into. Aric and I found a slow climb that Dan just couldn’t seem to find. Aric did a better job then me tracking the thermal and was soon several hundred feet higher and finally took off downwind towards Greg and Jeff circling near Newport. Meanwhile, I watched Dan slowly work upwind and then turn back downwind for a landing in Kellyville. I watched the trees dance around Dan’s landing field and decided right then that I didn’t want to land until late in the day.

As my sleepy thermal faded away, I started a lazy glide in buoyant air towards Newport. I noticed that Aric and Greg were struggling near the golf course and that Jeff was on a glide towards the Mount Sunapee area. I stumbled into a nice climb to 5700 feet and floated over my buddies in Newport and headed directly towards Jeff who was now slowing climbing up Mount Sunapee.

I arrived over Jeff and we worked different thermals for a while and then Jeff came upwind and joined me a moderate thermal that eventually faded away. I told Jeff that I had been “trapped” in Bradford before and was not happy being here again. Jeff described several paths out of the area and explained that he wanted more altitude before attempting any of them. I didn’t disagree and we keep fishing for the “big one” as we slowly drifted towards and then past Bradford. Meanwhile Aric landed in Newport and Greg managed to escape only to be trapped at the “forbidden fields”.

Finally Jeff found a good 200 fpm climb and called me over. Just as Dan did earlier, I was just far enough below Jeff that I could not connect. I painfully watched Jeff climb away as I was quickly drifting away from the only LZ for miles. Since I was not climbing, I decided to plow back upwind to Bradford. The trip back upwind was brutal. I was flying over 50 mph at times and barely moving and sinking like a stone. I was careful to maintain best glide and knew I did not have a large margin of error. (Jeff later told me he was not sure I was going to make it back.) I got on the radio and warned Jeff about my experience and Jeff decided he didn’t want any of that and drifted away with his thermal. Jeff later landed in Hennicker. As I finally got back to Bradford, I noticed that the trees were whipping around and that the plastic and sheet metal on a greenhouse were also flapping about. I definitely did not want to land right now so I did everything I could in the strong wind to maintain my altitude and still gain some ground upwind. I was down to about 850 feet when I hit the mother lode. The lift was so strong that I was willing to give up ground that I worked so hard to gain. I watched the ground shrink below me as I hit peaks of 1200 fpm and averaged 800 fpm on the climb. The drift downwind was just as quick and I carefully evaluated my position on each turn. Still climbing at 800 fpm and high enough to see a field in the distance downwind, I decided to leave town.

As I topped out over 6000 feet, I could finally see some landing fields, interstate 89, Concord, and Manchester. There was a line of clouds to the northeast that was developing quickly and I decided to work across a cloud-bridge to that line. I was rewarded with an easy 14-mile ride above 6000 feet to the ESE. I went on a long glide towards a stretch of trees didn’t appear to have any LZs. I was getting low and had to start altering my course to keep over potential landing areas. I wanted to keep moving, but could not find anything substantial. I kept looking across the forest and only saw a “clearing” near a road that I could crash into and a small field in the far distance. After hanging around fighting the wind I decided to let loose at 3300 and drift downwind in 50-150 fpm lift. I drifted across the forest in my lazy little thermal. I was a little shocked when the “field” in the distance turned out to be an orchard. However by that time I could see other fields and I finally relaxed a little.

I began to notice that I was topping out lower and lower. The flight turned into LZ hopping. There was a nice field with buildings that looked just a “little too much” like institutional buildings. After my flight over the prison in Florida, I was not going to take a chance on that field. (Jeff later told me it was a prison.) I drifted over the New England Speedway and got to watch several funny cars and top fuelers race on the drag strip. I even saw one stall or blow an engine on the starting line. I finally saw the coast in the distance and started working on a plan that would have me landing on the beach.

I could see the bay around Portsmouth and the airport across the bay. I could also see the small town I had to cross and the marshes before the buildings that lined the shore. Was the shore lined with beaches, rocks, or piers? As I drifted across the countryside between 2-3000 feet I could see a beach to the south. However, I was not finding much lift anymore and I didn’t have that beach on glide yet. I saw a caped landfill on the edge of the marsh and decided to head that way. On the way there I noticed the landfill had vent pipes and as I approached I discovered it had many pipes. It was an “acceptable” LZ but not an ideal one. I got a break with some buoyant air and drifted towards the shore. I could now glide over the buildings along the shore but I still could not see what was at the water’s edge. Finally I could see a beach … a BIG beach. Yahoo!

As I crossed the buildings lining Hampton Beach I gained a couple more hundred feet. I flew to the water’s edge and started proceeding down the coastline. It was obvious that there was not an on-shore breeze. I would be landing back into the shore. I continued down the beach the state park area. The beach was less crowded there, but I thought it might be nice to land in front of the arcade. As I flew back up the beach people were waving and shouting at me. Of course I waved back. I decided that the number of people on the beach and possible rotor from the buildings made the arcade area less desirable than the open area to the south. So I returned to the south end, did a number of slow “S” turns and floated onto the shore with a no-step landing.

A crowd soon formed around me as I answered the usual array of questions. After the crowd thinned, I gave Greg a quick call to let him know I was ok. Dan had hitched a ride back to his vehicle, picked up Greg, and was waiting in Warner for a call from me. What pals. I offered them a lobster dinner in return for a ride and they readily agreed. After calling home, I broke down my glider, played in the water a little and tormented Mark (Vaughn) with a quick call. I was surprised at how quickly Dan and Greg arrived. After “high fives” we loaded up and headed to a restaurant for clams, lobster, and steamers on an outside deck as we watched the sun set. What a great ending to a great day.

Regionals

By Mark Vaughn

I plan to block off 5 days for the Regionals We'll get started on the Labor Day weekend And continue it through the following weekend if needed My goal is to get at least 3 flyable days out of a scheduled 5 If we get 3 days over the Labor Day weekend, were done If not we go to the following weekend.

There will be a $10.00 Entry fee to Cover Trophies and other miscellaneous. Pilots must cover their own Towing fees, Park fees and chase crews when /if  needed

REGIONAL DATES

WEEK ONE
AUG. 31  -  SEPT. 1ST - SEPT. 2ND

WEEK TWO
SEPT. 7TH - SEPT. 8TH

Start tuning them Gliders 8-> It's time to Tumble Ooooooooop's I mean Rumble HAHAHAHAAHAHA

Special Thanks

By Gary Trudeau

There are a couple things that happened recently that I think deserve special thanks. First is the pilots that volunteered to help myself and Nick the new ranger at Mt Ascutney with foot race. Rob Jacobs, Steve Prepost, Jeff Bernard, and Niece Miller stepped forward to help and this was noticed well appreciated by the State of Vermont Parks officials. Remember we still need pilots to help out with the bike race at Mt Ascutney on July 27. 8AM start time.

The road up Rutland is accessible to us due mostly to the work of one of our member. Peter Kelly stepped forward and took charged of arranging the work, keeping the officers informed, and being the contact person with the contractor. Peter work was just another example of pilots stepping forward to help all of our members

Another group of pilots that seem to go nameless but help out with land owner relations are the many pilots that help out with the hay and corn picking at Rutland. So please help out when asked to. This site is very important to our members and future members.

Finally is a special thanks to Ken Rosenberg who was the main person behind the pig roast at Morningside Flight Park a couple weeks ago. Bob Corbo worked to arrange the pig and cooker then cooked it all day and Steve Prepost also assisted in making the arrangements while Ken was away on business. This was open to all who wanted to attend and all he asked was a small donation to help defray the cost. I know many donated but this still left Ken with a lot of out of pocket expenses. Ken wanted to do this for all his friends.

Special people like these stepping forward and doing things like this help make this sport as great as it is. Thanks all

Regional Director

By Gary Trudeau

Most of us know our Regional 8 Director Doug Sharpe has decided to step down after his term ends this fall. We all owe Doug a special thanks for all his hard work over the past 4 years. He has asked for someone to step forward and run for his position in the next election. Several pilots have expressed interest but no one made the commitment to do so. This helped me make the decision to run for the next Region 8 Director. If elected I hope I can bring a strong Region 8 representation at the national level. The only way I can do this is with the support of our region 8 members. So if there is anything that is important to you as a member, please feel free to contact me. I can usually be found at my second home every weekend (Morningside). If not you can contact me by phone at (413) 743-0147 or by email GTET595@AOl.COM. Thanks.

Note from the Secretary

The VHGA had a general meeting of its members on 4-19-02. This is a summary of that meeting

Officer Attendance- John Arrison, Dennis Cavagnaro, Gary Trudeau, Niece Miller,

Membership Attendance- 23 members 

Meeting called to order- 7.10 PM

Former minutes- Former minutes read and vote to be accepted.

Treasurer report- Read and voted to be accepted..

Site Report:

Rutland- New windsock is up. Waivers have been put in the box at the top. Road is 4-wheel drive only. Peter Kelly is taking care of making arrangements to get access road fixed. Officers to check condition of launch ramp. Members should make plans to help Ducky with chores. This will help keep good relations with the farmer and secure our landing zones.

Ascutney- New ranger this year. Work party 5-19-02. Remember waivers must be signed before flying Northwest trail, John Arrison to check with Rick White to check into the club doing trail improvements. Southwest trail is in pretty good shape.

Burke-Road maybe be staffed this year

Washington-No Changes

Club Vote- $1500.00 approved to get the access road to Rutland fixed. $400.00 for summer party.

Old Business- Gary Trudeau has completed the task of getting the Hang gliding symbols added to the sectional maps. Please write your letters to the FAA regarding the NPRM

New Business- Mark Vaughn to arrange the Regionals.

Meeting called to a close- 8:21 PM

Next Meeting

Saturday July 20, 2002 8PM, Ascutney Firehouse, Ascutney VT

Vermont Hang Gliding Association, Editorial Office, 595 Outlook Ave, Cheshire MA 01225